|
Af Francis
Scott Key, 1814
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 thru 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
thru 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 full
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 of of their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge
could save the hireling and slave'
From the
terror of flight and 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.
|