Old Ironsides in  General   

Ay, tear her tattered ensign down!
Long has it waved on high,
And many an eye has danced to see
That banner in the sky;
Beneath it rung the battle shout,
And burst the cannon's roar; --
The meteor of the ocean air
Shall sweep the clouds no more.
Her deck, once red with heroes' blood,
Where knelt the vanquished foe,
When winds were hurrying o'er the flood,
And waves were white below,
No more shall feel the victor's tread,
Or know the conquered knee; --
The harpies of the shore shall pluck
The eagle of the sea!

Oh, better that her shattered hulk
Should sink beneath the wave;
Her thunders shook the mighty deep,
And there should be her grave;
Nail to the mast her holy flag,
Set every threadbare sail,
And give her to the god of storms,
The lightning and the gale!

By Oliver Wendell Holmes

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Other poems by Oliver Wendell Holmes:

• A Familiar Letter
• A Farewell to Agassiz
• A Parody on “A Psalm of Life”
• Bill and Joe
• Cacoethes Scribendi
• Contentment
• Daily Trials by a Sensitive Man
• Dorothy Q.
• For the Moore Centennial Celebration
• Martha
• My Aviary
• Old Ironsides
• Poem (Halleck monument dedication)
• Sun and Shadow
• The Boys
• The Chambered Nautilus
• The Dorchester Giant
• The Flaâneur
• The Flower of Liberty
• The Height of the Ridiculous
• The Iron Gate
• The Last Leaf
• The Living Temple
• The Old Man Dreams
• The Opening of the Piano
• The Organ-Blower
• The September Gale
• The Silent Melody
• The Two Streams
• The Voiceless
• Under the Violets
• Union and Liberty
• Æstivation