Who wrote 'Old Ironsides'?

Who wrote 'Old Ironsides'?

• A. Oliver Wendell Holmes
• B. Walt Whitman
• C. Ralph Waldo Emerson
• D. James Russell Lowell

Answer: (A)

Old Ironsides was written by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.—a Boston physician-poet known for concise, melodic verse that blends wit with patriotism. The poem memorializes the U.S. Constitution ship and argues against scrapping her, urging instead to “build thee more stately mansions” in memory of the vessel. This patriotic, approachable style is characteristic of Holmes’s work, which helps distinguish him from the other poets listed—Whitman with expansive democratic verse, Emerson with essays and transcendental poetry, and Lowell with satirical and reformist pieces.

Old Ironsides was written by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.—a Boston physician-poet known for concise, melodic verse that blends wit with patriotism. The poem memorializes the U.S. Constitution ship and argues against scrapping her, urging instead to “build thee more stately mansions” in memory of the vessel. This patriotic, approachable style is characteristic of Holmes’s work, which helps distinguish him from the other poets listed—Whitman with expansive democratic verse, Emerson with essays and transcendental poetry, and Lowell with satirical and reformist pieces.