The
forgotten verses of Our National Anthem
While
the first verse of “The Star-Spangled Banner” is widely known by the American
public, the last three verses are generally omitted in performances. Here are
all the four verses, as they were written 200 years ago by Key:
O
say can you see, by the dawn’s early light, What so proudly we hail’d at the
twilight’s last gleaming, Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous
fight O’er the ramparts we watch’d were so gallantly streaming? And the
rocket’s 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?
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, 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—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 wash’d 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.
O
thus be it ever when freemen shall stand Between their lov’d home and the war’s
desolation! Blest with vict’ry and peace may the heav’n rescued land Praise the
power 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 the
star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave O’er the land of the free and the
home of the brave.
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