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.
1
As used in context here, the word "meteor" means
a full moon
a shooting star
the "Old Ironsides"
the Northern lights