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| On this date in 1814, Francis Scott Key composed what has become U.S. national anthem |
YES, WE CAN SEE AT THE TWILIGHT'S...
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?
[Americans should
shout “Yes, it does!” in answer to the question posed in the last two lines of
the National anthem]
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 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, 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!
--Written by Francis Scott Key, 1814, during the bombardment of Ft. McHenry, Maryland.
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| Fort McHenry, National Historic Shrine, 2014 at Bicentennial Celebration. |
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