Old Ironsides

E6315

"Old Ironsides" is a famous 1830 poem by Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. that helped rally public support to preserve the historic U.S. frigate USS Constitution.


Statements (30)

Predicate Object
instanceOf literaryWork
poem
alternateName “Ay, tear her tattered ensign down!”
associatedWith American Romanticism
naval history of the United States
author Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.
countryOfOrigin United States of America
surface form: United States
culturalSignificance contributed to the preservation of USS Constitution as a museum ship
effect helped arouse public sentiment to save USS Constitution
firstPublicationDate 1830-09-16
firstPublishedIn Boston Daily Advertiser
form poem
genre lyric poem
hasTheme heroism in war
patriotism
protest against neglect of national heritage
respect for national symbols
inspiredBy planned scrapping of USS Constitution
language English
lineCount 24
literaryPeriod 19th-century American literature
meter iambic tetrameter
namedAfter nickname of USS Constitution
openingLine “Ay, tear her tattered ensign down!”
publicationYear 1830
purpose to protest the proposed dismantling of USS Constitution
to rally public support for preserving USS Constitution
stanzaCount 3
subject USS Constitution
workAbout War of 1812 naval heroics of USS Constitution

Referenced by (3)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

USS Constitution nickname Old Ironsides
Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. notableWork Old Ironsides
Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. wrote Old Ironsides