Old Ironsides

1. Old Ironsides Written By: Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. PowerPoint Created By: Sean McGee

2. Old Ironsides O, 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 thread-bare sail, And give her to the god of storms,— The lightning and the gale! 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! 3 Stanzas 8 Lines Each Ballad

3. Old Ironsides O, 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 thread-bare sail, And give her to the god of storms,— The lightning and the gale! 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! Common Measure is found in the second stanza in the first four lines. Common Measure-A quatrain that rhymes ABAB and alternates four-stress and three-stress iambic lines. It is the meter of the hymn and the ballad.

4. Old Ironsides A B C B D E F E O, 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 thread-bare sail, And give her to the god of storms,— The lightning and the gale! L M N M O P Q P 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! G H G I J K J End Rhyme-the use of rhyme at the ends of lines of poetry Every even line rhymes as well as lines 9 and 11

5. Old Ironsides O, 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 thread-bare sail, And give her to the god of storms,— The lightning and the gale! 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! Internal Rhyme-a rhyme in which one of the rhyming words is within the line of poetry and the other is at the end of the same line or within the next line Internal Rhyme appears in the first stanza concerning lines 2,3,4

6. Old Ironsides O, 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 thread-bare sail, And give her to the god of storms,— The lightning and the gale! 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! Alliteration-a poetic or literary effect achieved by using several words that begin with the same or similar consonants Alliteration appears in the second stanza on the fourth line.

7. Old Ironsides That banner in the sky; O, better that her shattered hulk Should sink beneath the wave; And burst the cannon’s roar;— Her deck, once red with heroes’ blood Imagery-a set of mental pictures produced by the memory or imagination or conjured up by a stimulus There is vivid imagery in every stanza. And waves were white below,

8. Literal and Figurative Meanings 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! Literal Meaning: This stanza is talking that the U.S.S. Constitution is no longer going to be sailing because of the planned dismantling. Figurative Meaning: The deeper meaning the poem is trying to convey is that things that seem to be unneeded or unnecessary anymore have more meaning than what people might think.

9. Literal and Figurative Meanings 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! Literal Meaning: This stanza is talking about and celebrating the lives of the crew that served on the U.S.S. Constitution. Figurative Meaning: The deeper meaning this stanza is trying to convey is that you shouldn’t replace something that works, but you should still improve upon it.

10. Literal and Figurative Meanings O, 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 thread-bare sail, And give her to the god of storms,— The lightning and the gale! Literal Meaning: This stanza is saying that the U.S.S. Constitution should not be dismantled. Figurative Meaning: The deeper meaning that this stanza is trying to convey is that it is more honorable to die fighting that to be a coward and go home.

11. Intended Theme The poem was created to be very patriotic and meant to get a feeling of sadness to persuade the Navy not to disassemble the USS Constitution. The poem was used to celebrate the lives of the men who served on the ship. The name of the poem was ironic because it wasn’t until later it was reinforce with iron.

12. Poem’s Speaker and Author’s Purpose The speaker is himself, Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. a man who wanted he the ship to continue to sail. He wrote this poem to save the USS Constitution from being dismantled, this poem was written in one morning and sent to a publisher which mass produced it. The poem was successful and the USS Constitution is still in active duty today.

13. Meet the Author Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts on august 28, 1809. When he was a child he enjoyed to search threw his father’s library. He went to Harvard College to chase his poetic career. The writer was sent to the Navy base to write a poem in opposition of dismantling the USS Constitution, the poem being “Old Ironsides.” Edgar Allan Poe critiqued his poem “The Last Leaf” and considered it one of the best works in the English Language.

14. Citations • www.poetryoutloud.org • en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Wendell_Holmes,_Sr • http://www.enotes.com/topics/old-ironsides/themes • pda.itar-tass.com • superbwallpapers.com • sportfishingbc.com • worth1000.com • dreamstime.com