"Old Ironsides" and "To the Fringed Gentian"

Oliver Wendell Holmes and William Cullen Bryant are both Fireside Poets and Romanticism poets. While William Cullen Bryant writes about nature, wildlife, and is the "oldest" Fireside Poet, Oliver Wendell Holmes' writing was focused on one object per poem and was originally a medic ("The Fireside Poets" 210). The two men came from different backgrounds and wrote about different things with different styles. Holmes' "Old Ironsides" and Bryant's "To the Fringed Gentian" are about a ship and a flower, respectively, and have some similarities and some differences. Both authors wrote about an American object, Holmes the USS Constitution and Bryant a flower native to the Eastern portion of the United States, that aroused feelings of joy, happiness, and pride for Americans (Love). "To the Fringed Gentian" is a tale of death, but unlike Bryant's "Thanatopsis", not overwhelmingly depressing or downbeat. William Cullen Bryant weaves a tale of a remarkable flower that only blooms when the "quiet light" and the "keen" night occurs ("The Fireside Poets" 211). The flower blooms after all of the other flowers have stopped for winter symbolizing an older person who is still active (Huff, "To the Fringed Gentian"). The line "the aged year is near his end" again represents the aged person who is ready to go out peacefully and gently ("The Fireside Poets" 211). The fringed gentian is the what the literal meaning of this poem talks about, but figuratively the poem is talking about dying peacefully as an gracefully aged person. Just like how the fringed gentians blossom to gaze at the "blue sky" as winter approaches, the narrator wants to be an aged man who gazes at the "blue sky" of heaven as his time comes ("The Fireside Poets" 211). The fringed gentian is a symbol of hope that the narrator uses to help him come to terms with death (Huff, "To the Fringed Gentian").

Oliver Wendell Holmes' "Old Ironsides" is about the USS Constitution and about Holmes call to arms with the American people to rally and preserve the great ironclad vessel. The ship was to be decommissioned and scrapped, but Holmes' poem saved the ship (Huff, "Old Ironsides"). Playing on patriotism and pride, Holmes used the American flag as a figurative symbol for the ironclad vessel to help persuade people to join his cause and save the ship. "Long has it waved high" is literally talking about the USS Constitution, but really means that by destroying the ship, the American flag is being taken down and the symbol of American hope, pride, and joy will be gone ("The Fireside Poets" 211). Patriotic people believe that doing anything to harm or disrespect a flag is wrong and by tying the idea that by saving the ironclad ship, people would be saving the American flag is an ingenious idea by Holmes (Huff, "Old Ironsides").

While both poems are in classic Romanticism iambic pentameter, the poems' subject matter is different. "To the Fringed Gentian" is about a pleasant and ideal way to die, while "Old Ironsides" is about not going out without a fight. The poems prey on different emotions to evoke a response from the reader. "To the Fringed Gentian" uses joy over knowing that dying peacefully looking up at heaven is a good way to leave this world. "Old Ironsides" uses patriotism and pride to convince people that destroying the USS Constitution would be similar to destroying a symbol of America. Both poems got their point across and made an impact on the reader.


"The Fireside Poets." Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 210-211. Print.

Huff, Randall. "'Old Ironsides'." The Facts On File Companion to American Poetry, vol. 1. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2007. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. Web 11. Dec. 2011.

Huff, Randall. "'To the Fringed Gentian'." The Facts On File Companion to American Poetry, vol. 1. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2007. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. Web 11. Dec. 2011.

Love, C. "'To the Fringed Gentian'." In Barney, Brett, and Lisa Paddock, eds. Encyclopedia of American Literature: The Age of Romanticism and Realism, 1816–1895, vol. 2, Revised Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2008. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. Web 11. Dec. 2011.