Note 15 — Chapter XVII · EDITORIALS—DESTRUCTIVE

Built about 1800, the frigate Constitution had a career that aroused popular fancy. She was at the bombardment of Tripoli in 1804; captured the British frigate Guerrière August 2, 1812; captured the British frigate Java December 29, 1812; and on February 20, 1815, captured the British ships Cyane and Levant. In 1830, when it was proposed to break her up, Holmes wrote this poem by way of protest. The result was that the ship was preserved. She now lies at the Boston Navy Yard, an object of great historic and patriotic interest. The poem is a kind of poetic editorial.