The Star Spangled Banner
Yesterday...9/11 - Tears clouded my vision as half mast flags cleared my memory and God bless America prayers slipped from quivering lips.
Yesterday's tears now dried. Darkness fleeing slowly from the sun. Peeking out my window I see the flag waving me good morning.
In 1814, Francis Scott Key wrote the poem, Defense of Fort McHenry. The poem was later put to the tune of (John Stafford Smith's song) The Anacreontic Song, modified somewhat, and retitled The Star Spangled Banner. Congress proclaimed The Star Spangled Banner the U.S. National Anthem in 1931.
Oh, 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 waveO'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 waveO'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
And where is that band who so vauntingly sworeThat the havoc of war and the battle's confusionA 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 slaveFrom the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave:And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth waveO'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 homes and the war's desolation;Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the heav'n-rescued landPraise the Pow'r that hath made and preserv'd us a nation!Then conquer we must, when our cause is just,And this be our motto: "In God is our trust"And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall waveO'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
If you're like me, I grew impatient reading all the lyrics, not remembering the long version. Lord forgive me and thank you for the last verse:
May the heaven rescued land Praise the Power that has made and preserved us a nation. Then conquer we must, when our cause is just, And this be our motto: “In God is our trust.”
We're still here. We still believe. In God we still trust.
2 comments:
May God bless you for this. I can't tell you how many times I've wished these words had made it into the first verse, preserved there when this became our national anthem.
There are many things of which it should be said:
"Never Forget."
Bless your heart for sharing this.
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