O! 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 through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched
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 still* 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 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 washed 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 loved homes and
the foe's desolation;
Bless'd with victory and peace,
may our Heaven-rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made
and preserved us a nation
Then conquer we must, for 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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