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Poems Of Oliver Wendell Holmes: Old Ironsides

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From: Great Works of Literature
Date: 19920101
Author:Holmes, Oliver Wendell

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Old Ironsides

[Footnote 1: This was the popular name by which the frigate "Constitution" was known.]

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 ...

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