Name:__________________________Date:___________Period:__________
Oliver Wendell HOlmes
“Everybody wants to have a hand in a great discovery”
As always…Meet the Writer on page 232
Your literary term to know here is METAPHOR (which you have already studied)
and Main Idea & Apostrophe which you need to define below:
It is also important to know the definition of
CHAMBERED NAUTILUS:
A cephalopod mollusk of the genus Nautilus, especially
N. pompilius, found in the Indian and Pacific oceans and
having a spiral, pearly-lined shell with a series of air-filled
chambers.
Read the poem and answer the questions below
1. What is being compared in this poem?
2. What images in the first stanza help you picture where the nautilus first “sailed”?
3. Summarize what has happened to the nautilus in the second stanza.
4. Why does the speaker thank the nautilus in the fourth stanza?
5. Who or what is the subject of the apostrophe in each of the last two stanzas?
What is the main idea of each of these stanzas, and why do you think Holmes
uses apostrophe here?
6. What do you think initially drew Holmes to the chambered nautilus as a poetic
subject? Why do you think he found it inspiring?
Name:__________________________Date:___________Period:__________
Old Ironsides
Read the poem on this page and Answer the questions
Questions
1. In simple terms, what message does the first
stanza present? What is ironic about the way
Holmes states this message?
2. What do you think the poet wants the ship to
symbolize?
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 the ocean air
Shall sweep the clouds no more.
3. Do you think that historical relics like Old
Ironsides should be preserved? Why or why
not?
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 shore shall pluck
The eagle of the sea!
4. Why do you think this poem was successful in
getting the public to save the ship? Point out
specific words and phrases that you found
particularly persuasive.
Oh, better that her shattered bulk
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 lightning and the gale!
5. Think about specific issues in today’s world that have inspired public movements.
Name some.
6. How are these inspirations made public if not through beautiful poems anymore?
Do you think this makes them more of less effective? Why?