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US History
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The United
States National Anthem
verse i
O 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?
Verse
ii
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!
Verse
iii
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.
Verse
iv
O thus be it
ever when free-men shall stand
Between their
lov'd home 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 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!
Francis Scott
Key, 1814
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