WRFH/Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM - The Poetry Fix: Old Ironsides

Episode Date: April 12, 2026

Join Erika Kyba to encounter "Old Ironsides," the famous elegy that saved the USS Constitution from being scrapped. She discusses how masterfully Holmes pits mercenary concerns against a respect for what is beautiful and noble, weaving in themes of national identity throughout the poem.

Welcome to the Poetry Fix on Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM. I'm your host, Erica Kaiba, bringing you your weekly fix of poetry from across time. Today we're reading a poem suggested by a friend of the show. This one is called Old Ironsides, and it's by Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. Old Ironsides elegizes the USS Constitution, which is one of the most famous ships in U.S. Navy history. In all its years of service, it was never so much as Holt. In 1830, though, there was talk of scrapping Old Ironsides, as the ship was lovingly called, of taking her out of commission and dismantling her in order to reuse her parts for other machinery.

Our poet, Oliver Wendell Holmes, came across this news in the Boston Daily advertiser and decided to pen a tribute to Old Ironsides in order to protest dismantling the ship. The poem was printed in the same newspaper the very next day and caused such a national stir that any plans to scrap the USS Constitution were brought to a halt. Holmes begins the poem with a powerful, ironic command to tear the ship's tattered ensign down. From the very first line, he's made this an issue of national identity. The ensign of the USS Constitution would be the American flag, announcing the country that the ship is fighting for as it takes to the sea.

The emotional undertones associated with the ensign continue in the next few lines, as Holmes describes how this flag has waved over mighty battles, and how many Americans' eyes have danced to see it, how it has given them hope in the fight. He describes the flag as tattered, and in one sense he's assuming the voice of those that want to tear the ship down. If the ensign is tattered, the whole ship must be well-worn and perhaps past use. But in another sense, that tattered ensign is a testament to how many dangers the ship has faced in service of the country.

and if you read it that way, it's an act of great ingratitude to scrap it. Holmes will describe those who want to dismantle the ship as the harpies of the shore tearing up the eagle of the sea, the harpy being a vicious, rather ugly mythological creature compared to the noble eagle, a symbol that once again invokes the American identity. Throughout the poem, Holmes pits mercenary concerns against something that is noble, historic, and beautiful.

And at the end of the day, old iron-science, is the one that has the last word. With all that said, let's dive in. Old Ironsides, by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. I tear her tattered ensign down, long it has waved on high, and many and I 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 read with heroes' blizzard. where knelt the vanquished foe, when winds were hurrying o'er the flood, and waves were white below. No more shall feel the victors tread, or know the conquered knee. The harpies of the shore shall pluck the eagle of the sea. O better that her shattered hulk should sink beneath the wave, her thunders shook the mighty deep, and there should be her grave. Nailed to the mast her holy flag, set every threadbare sail, and give her to the god of storms, the lightning and the gale.

You've been listening to The Poetry Fix with Erica Kaiba. If you enjoyed this episode, consider following the Poetry Fix on Spotify, YouTube, or Apple Podcasts. And if you have any poems you want to see in a future episode, email your suggestions to the Poetry Fix at gmail.com. Join me next week, and we'll be reading Mortality by William Knox.