The Star-Spangled Banner

The Star-Spangled Banner
THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER

O say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What s
o 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?
An
d the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
G
ave 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?

On t
he shore dimly seen thro' the mists of the deep,
Whe
re the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
W
hat is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As i
t fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now
it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
I
n full glory reflected, now shines on the stream:
'Ti
s the star-spangled banner: O, long may it wave
O'er
the land of the free and the home of the brave!

An
d where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That th
e 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
F
rom 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.

O thus be it ever when free-men shall stand
B
etween their lov'd home and the war's desolation;
Bl
est with vict'ry and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land
Pra
ise 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 th
e star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er th
e land of the free and the home of the brave!
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# Posted on Saturday, 24 September 2005 at 9:04 AM
Edited on Sunday, 25 September 2005 at 7:53 PM