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Our Salute to
Francis Scott Key
Posted on June 1,
2010 |
No doubt
the National Anthem was sung in countless commemoration
services across the nation to honor fallen service men and women on
Memorial Day of 2010. In most cases, only the first
verse of The Star Spangled Banner was performed. We
seldom hear the other verses. I am posting them on this
page below because I believe that they are well worth
reading, particularly the fourth verse.
Francis
Scott Key was a lawyer by profession, an amateur poet,
and a true patriot. He wrote the lyrics for The Star
Spangled Banner during the Battle of Fort McHenry in the
War of 1812. The poem was originally entitle, "The
Defense of Fort McHenry." It was set to music written by
John Stafford Smith, and in 1931, Congress passed a
resolution making The Star Spangled Banner officially
the National Anthem of the United States.
The
Star Spangled Banner
(The Defense of
Fort McHenry)
September 20, 1814
By Francis Scott Key
 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 rockets' red glare, the
bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through 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 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, now conceals, now 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 wiped out their foul footstep's
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 homes and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heaven-rescued
land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a
nation.
Then conquer we must, for our cause it is just,
And this be our
motto: "In God is our trust."
And the star-spangled banner forever shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
I
encourage you to read aloud the fourth verse to your
children and your grandchildren. It will give them
a better understanding of the meaning of our National
Anthem.
Have an Awesome Day & Experience in
Clovis and Central California!
Clovis is what every
small town aspires to be
when it grows up!SM
Thank
you for visiting
www.ExperienceClovis.com
Please come back soon
̶
and bring
your friends and family!
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