Old Ironsides Oliver Wendell Holmes Analysis

Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote “Old Ironsides” in 1830, shortly after hearing the news that they were demolishing the Constitution. It was an emotional time for him, so he proceeded to write this poem as a protest. This poem consists of twenty-four lines with three stanzas. It’s an iambic pentameter and the rhyme scheme is ABCBDEFD; ABABCDED; then ABCBDEFE. The theme is centered on the idea that pride and glory are associated with death.

This poem is telling a touching story of the decision to dismantle the Constitution. However, to truly understand this poem you must first learn background on the Constitution. The Constitution was a wooden ship, and heavy frigate of navy named after the written Constitution. The Constitution is famous for defeating five British ships in the war of 1812. This ship served as a symbol of peace and independence for the American people. While reading the poem you can infer that the speaker of the poem is an individual that was once aboard ship. Throughout this piece the tone of this poem shifts from admiration to angry near the end. This is established by the line twenty, “And there should be her grave”. This line was written to represent that the disagreement he had with the ship getting dismantle and rather would have it be damaged at sea.
However, this poem has eight lines and two quatrains in each stanza. The tone throughout this poem develops to negative attitude. This negative attitude is used to arouse the audience to support his cause to stop the demolishing of the Constitution. All the punctuation in this piece arranged at the end of the line with a few enjambments. The title Old Ironsides has a great measure of meaning if you look at its history. The Constitution was nicked named Old Ironsides after the battle with Guerriere. This battle was the backbone that gave people hope and eventually leads them to win the