Answer :
The following reaction is best suited by the ideas and details in this poem :
A) The speaker has great respect for the ship, Old Ironsides.
Oliver Wendell Holmes describes "Old Ironsides" as the ship that played a great role in American history. He describes the ship as a symbol of America's freedom. He does not agree with the dishonorable idea of condemning the great ship, USS Constitutioni, to be scraped. He proposes the government to let the ship sink in the ocean with dignity and honor.
The following lines from the poem support this argument :
"O, better that her shattered hulk
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 thread-bare sail,
And give her to the god of storms,—
The lightning and the gale!
"
