Iambic tetrameter is a poetical meter where there are four iambs in a line/ four iambic feet in a line. This form of metrical technique is also almost similar to that of iambic pentameter except that pentameter consists of five feet in a line. In a tetrameter, the first word is an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable.
Oliver Wendell Holmes' poem "Old Ironsides" is written in this pattern most probably to emphasize about the importance and greatness of the ship, the USS Constitution. Holmes wrote about this ship to signify the greatness of the ship and its history in the making of the American nation. He uses the themes of pride, glory and freedom that comes along with the an honorable death.
