Loukos Scheffer

Mr. A

Poem Analysis

5-9-17

Old Ironsides is a poem by Oliver Wendell Holmes, and it was written in 1830.
The poem is about the USS constitution, one of the most decorated vessels in the
US navy at the time of this Poems writing. The poem was an effort to save the ship
from being decommissioned and replaced with newer ironclad vessels.

The first line of the poem Ay, tear her tattered ensign down!, uses sarcasm
to convey a meaningful tone. The next line, Long has it waved on high, gives an
established tone. The following two lines, And many an eye has danced to see and
That banner in the sky; show the reader that the ship is decorated and important.
This is also an example of personification, as eyes cannot dance. The next two lines,
Beneath it rung the battle shout, and And burst the cannons roar;- imply that
the ship has seen a lot of combat in its many years. The following lines, The
meteor of the ocean air and Shall sweep the clouds no more! imply that the ship
will be decommissioned. The last two lines also intent to make the reader
sympathize with the case of saving the ship. The stanza has examples of
personification in the third line, as eyes cannot dance, and metaphors in the
seventh line, as the ship is called The meteor of ocean air.

The next stanza starts by building up more about the glory of the ship, Her
deck, once red with heroes blood and Where knelt the vanquished foe,. The next
two lines, When winds were hurrying oer the flood and And waves were white
below, give a storied tone. The following two lines, No more shall feel the victors
tread, and Or know the conquered knee;- again try to get the reader to
sympathize with the case for the ship. However, these two lines apply to the entire
style of warfare that occurred when galleons ruled the sea, something which after
the writing of this poem will be phased out as newer ships come around. The last
two lines of the stanza, The harpies of the shore shall pluck and The eagle of the
sea! contain metaphors, first the government is called, The harpies of the sea
and then the USS Constitution is called, The eagle of the sea. The last two lines
also have a sympathetic tone.

The first two lines of the next stanza, O, better that her shattered hulk and
Should sink beneath the wave;, also have a sarcastic tone and say that the ship
be sunk in battle before being scrapped by the government. The following two lines,
Her thunders shook the mighty deep, and And there should be her grave;
suggest that if the ship is to go, it should go honorably. The next two lines, Nails to
the mast her holy flag, and Set every thread-bare sail, imply that ship should go
in its most glorious fashion. The last two lines, And give her to the god of storms,-
and The lightning and the gale!, the last two lines and the majority of the last
stanza says that if the ship will no longer sail, it should be sunk at sea, giving and
honorable tone. Figurative language is used in the stanza, an example is the
personification in line 3 when it says, Her thunders shook the mighty deep,
thunders cannot shake, so that is an example of personification.

The poem actually did save the ship. The ship was placed in Boston Harbor as
a museum ship and still sails to this day. However, the ability of this poem to save
the ship is very important. This poem is an example of an injustice that was fixed by
petitioning the government. The ability to petition the government to fix an injustice
is an American ideal and was relatively rare at the time this poem was written.
However, even today the ability to petition the government is very important and
something that everybody should be aware of if they see a social injustice.