-e cherished words "our in the flag 1 mify? The Or compare the Amer hows that nong the present im') Our ds" The Star-Spangled Banner THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER FRANCIS SCOTT KEY 17 Francis Scott Key (1780-1843) was an American lawyer and poet. He was a native of Maryland. His "The Star-Spangled Banner" made him famous. 1 O SAY, can you see, by the dawn's early light, What so proudly we hailed, at the twilight's last gleaming? And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air, O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave? 2 On that shore, dimly seen through the mist of the deep, As it fitfully blows, now conceals, now discloses ? 3 And where are the foes 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; O thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand Between their loved homes and the war's desolation; And the Star-Spangled Banner in triumph shall wave Historical: The incidents referred to in this poem occurred du the war of 1812. In August, 1814, a strong force of Bri entered Washington and burned the Capitol, the White House, many other public buildings. On September 13 the British adm moved his fleet into position to attack Fort McHenry. The bomba ment of the fort lasted all night, but the fort was so bravely fended that the flag was still floating over it when morning came. Just before the bombardment began, Francis Scott Key was s to the admiral's frigate to arrange for an exchange of prisoners a was told to wait until the bombardment was over. All night watched the fort and by the first rays of morning light he saw t Stars and Stripes still waving. Then, in his joy and pride, he wro the stirring words of the song, which is now known and loved 1 all Americans-The Star Spangled Banner." Who were the "foe's haught host''? What words tell where the fo was? What words tell that the foe ha ceased firing? Why was this? Where was the reflection of the flag seen? What is the meaning of "thus" in the line that begins "O thus be it ever''g ave e! VOCABULARY: ccurred during ze of British e House, and itish admiral The bombardbravely de ig came. ey was sent isoners and Il night he he saw the he wrote loved by haughty the foe foe had of the thus" > thus res'-cue-to free or deliver from danger or evil. tri'-ŭmph-victory; a state of joy because of success. WORDS AND PHRASES: "mist of the deep" "fitfully blows' "ramparts" "bombs bursting in air" "towering steep" THE NAME OF OLD GLORY* JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY James Whitcomb Riley (1852- ) is an American poet. He was born in Indiana and is called "The Hoosier Poet.'' OLD GLORY! say, who, By the ships and the crew, 1 And the long, blended ranks of the gray and the blue,— As you cast yourself free to the rapturous air Your stripes stroked in ripples of white and of red, *Copyright, 1900, James Whitcomb Riley. Published by permission of the Bobbs-Merrill Company. |