The Anthem

By Francis Scott Key

September 14, 1814

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,
thro' the perilous fight,
o'er the ramparts we watched,
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.
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
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 in the stream;
"'Tis the star-spangled banner,
Oh, 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 was washed 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.

Oh, thus be it ever
when free men shall stand
between their loved homes
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 preserved 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.