By Francis Scott Key.
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 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!
(Source: http://www.scoutsongs.com)
Photo credit: char1iej (Creative Commons)
Please share this post with your friends and comment below. If you haven’t already, take a moment to sign up for our free newsletter above and friend us on Twitter and Facebook to get real time updates.
Follow @WestJournalism
Loading ...
THANK YOU for printing this! So many people these days have never heard all the words. Baseball games only sing the first two verses. It is a beautiful song when sung properly, in spite of what some ‘celebrities’ have said. There are just so many ‘singers’ who can’t sing, that think it is unsingable. This is the perfect time to print this.
This is wonderful that you put this in print. I have read an article where they were lying about George Washington being the original 1%. They said he was arrogant and was very rich and owned a lot of land. This is not true about our Founding Father. They are slandering him. George Washington was a man of God. He lost everything just like Thomas Jefferson did. Thomas Jefferson died in bankruptsy. Our young people are not being taught the truth about our Founding Fathers. The commie-controlled schools are teaching falsehoods about our Founding Fathers. They say they were rich, racist men. That’s an outright lie. See website: http://www.haasstrep68.com
I guess the Star Spangled Banner does not really exist anymore because we are certainly not the home of the brave (and I do not put our servicemen in this category) nor the land of the free. Doesn’t it seem funny how many of our liberties have been trampled on over the years, and especially the last few years. O just decides what laws he wants to obey. Did he defend the DOMA. To my last knowledge, it was not voted on to repeal it. Has he secured our borders. I just saw in the paper today, another border agent was shot.
Wake up America.
Thank you. It has been so long since I have heard the 2nd and 3rd stanzas I forgot about them. And we hardly ever hear the 4th. We MUST remember!
The history of the Star Spangle Banner is very seldom told. France Scott Key was on board a British ship. There were American prisoners below deck. We had negotiated with British their release that if the flag was still flying at Fort McHenry the prisoners would be released. While France Scott Key was going from deck of the ship to the prisoners below writing the words of the Star Spangle Banner telling them that the flag was still flying as the British were shelling the fort. By dawn the flag was still flying and was being held up by a pile of dead Patriots. The prisoners were released.
This part of our history should be taught in all our schools starting in grade school.
Then we have those who make fun of the Star Spangle Banner and want it changed and say this is not the home of the BRAVE.