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In 1830, the old Constitution was reported unseaworthy and condemned to be broken up. Oliver Wendell Holmes published in the Boston Advertiser his poem "Old Ironsides." Public clamor excited by this poem saved the vessel.

Old Ironsides.

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 ocean air
Shall sweep the clouds no more!

Her deck once red with heroe's blood,
Where knelt the vanquished foe,
When winders 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 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'
Nail to the mast her holy flag,
Set every threadbare sail,
And give her to the god of storms,
The lightening and the gale!

[black and white image of the Constitution]
"OLD IRONSIDES"--U. S. Frigate Constitution

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