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Composed
by Francis Scott Key, "In Defense of Fort
McHenry", September 20, 1814.
Congress proclaimed it the U.S. National
Anthem in 1931.
Oh,
say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last
gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro' the
perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watch'd, were so gallantly
streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting
in air,
Gave proof thro' the night that our flag was still
there.
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the
brave?
On
the shore dimly seen thro' the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence
reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering
steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first
beam,
In full glory reflected, now shines on the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner: O, long may it
wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the
brave!
And
where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion
A home and a country should leave us no more?
Their blood has wash'd out their foul footsteps'
pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the
grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the
brave.
O, thus be it ever when freemen shall stand,
Between their lov'd homes and the war's desolation;
Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the heav'n-rescued
land
Praise the Pow'r that hath made and preserv'd
us as a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust"
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall
wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the
brave! |
