The National Anthem of the United States of America
This anthem was written by
Francis Key as he was being held prisoner on a
Royal Navy frigate during
the British attackon Fort McHenry in the war of 1812.
Oh, say!
can you see by the dawn's early light
What so
proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming;
Whose broad
stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight,
O'er the
ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
And the
rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof
through the night that our flag was still there:
Oh, 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 through 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 fully
glory reflected now shines in the stream:
'Tis the
star-spangled banner! Oh, 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 washed 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.
Oh, thus
be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between
their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with
victory and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land
Praise
the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation!
Then conquer
we must, when our cause it 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.