The National Anthem
(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,
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 mist 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 it 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 washed our 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 free men shall stand,
Between their loved homes and the war's desolation,
Blessed with victory and peace, may this Heaven-rescued land,
Praise the power that hath made and preserved us a nation,
Then conquer we must, when our cause it was just,
And this be our motto, "In God is our trust;"
And the Star-Spangled Banner, in triumph doth wave,
O'er the land of the free, and the home of the brave.l
