The Star-Spangled Banner
Francis Scott Key, 1814
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, thro’ the perilous fight,
O’er the ramparts we watch’d, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave 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 the shore dimly seen thro’ 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 wash’d out 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.
O thus be it ever when free-men 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 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 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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8 Comments:
#1 || 11·07·04··06:51 || Neil
These lyrics were written by the aggressor during the failed attempt to annex Canada by force of might. Or something like that.
#2 || 11·07·04··16:29 || David Kjos
Or maybe the motive behind the declaration of war was somewhat more complex than that, eh?
#3 || 11·07·04··18:49 || Neil
Thet is something an aggressor would say. But I will concede that we may not have attracted marching armies if there weren't one or two other factors. Now leave me alone with my national myth. Every play needs a villain, preferably a big strong one.
#4 || 11·07·04··19:03 || David Kjos
OK, sorry about that. I’ll expect you to also pretend that God endorsed our revolution.
One question, though: When you say “we,” are you speaking as a British colonist, or as a Canadian? Because we didn’t march into Canada against Canada, but against the king.
#5 || 11·07·04··20:40 || Neil
I would say speaking as a citizen of Upper Canada, which was the name of Ontario at that time. In May 1814 when the U.S. army crossed Lake Erie and burned many of the mills in the county in which I live as well as several other counties, much of the population consisted of "United Empire Loyalists" who had fled the thirteen colonies in the late 1700's because they were...loyal to the king. Against whom you marched. Villains.
btw One of my great-great-great-great grandparents built the only mill that the Americans missed. Still stands and operates as a historical site. They periodically reenact War of 1812 battles there. The team in blue are the bad guys.
#6 || 11·07·05··08:03 || David Kjos
My maternal grandmother’s line goes back to colonial days. All I know about that side is that a pair of brothers were given land in Canada “for acts of loyalty to the king.” So they or their children might have been among those loyalists. We might even be 17th cousins, or something.
#7 || 11·07·05··08:21 || Neil
Always good to reconnect with a relative. Can I borrow $20?
You know, it's been 197 years. I should probably let this go.
#8 || 11·07·05··13:29 || David Kjos
Yeah, you’d better, or we’ll come find that last mill.