Old Ironsides by Oliver Wendell Holmes

Summary: Old Ironsides by Oliver Wendell Holmes is about a ship called Ironsides that is old, but it is better to set the ship into the sea to be destroyed rather than dismantle it.

Section One:

Take down the sail, it is old
There use to be shouts of men in battle and the sound of cannons but it won't happen anymore

Section Two:

The ship has had heroes on it that died
The ship has had the enemy surrender on it
The harpies of the shore - referring to the people living on the land are going to break the ship apart

Section Three:

It is better to let the broken ship sink in the ocean
When the ship was great it ruled the ocean , so it is better for it to rest there in the end
Set the sails and let the sea take the ship

Other Notes:

Ironsides was a ship that was said to have such tough sides it was made of iron; the ship supposedly was able to deflect cannon balls
The poem is trying to get people to realize the ship should not be taken apart in port because it was such an important ship during battle
The narrator reminds people the ship has had heroes on it, and has even taken surrenders
The narrator tries to grab power of the ship in the poem, even though it is old now it was once so strong it was said to have iron sides