The Star-Spangled Banner

There has been so much press lately regarding the 4th verse of "The Star-Spangled Banner" that I was driven to look up the lyrics for myself. I am sure that you have seen and heard the video where a Marine sings the 4th verse, so I became very curious about the entire National Anthem. My first concern was that all I ever learned of our National Anthem was essentially the first verse. If I had been taught the other verses, I have absolutely no recollection. So tonight I thought we could all use a little education on our Nation's Anthem.


I started wondering if this was some form of media hype, with everyone focusing on the 4th verse of our National Anthem, kind of like the pendulum swinging the other direction... so, I felt that it was my duty to look up all the verses of the National Anthem and basically do a little history homework on our National Anthem. Actually what I found out, we should have learned in school, but frankly, I can't remember if I learned that. I do remember learning that Francis Scott Key wrote the lyrics as he witnessed the battle between the U.S. and the British Royal Navy at Fort McHenry in the Chesapeake Bay. I do remember that Key was essentially a prisoner on the British ship HMS Surprise when he witnessed the attack on Fort McHenry. After he witnessed the American victory, he was inspired to write the poem the next morning on the back of a letter he had kept in his pocket.


I did learn some very interesting information regarding our National Anthem, whether I had previously learned in grade school is questionable, but hey, grade school was just a few years ago for me too.... So here is a brief refresher on "The Star-Spangled Banner":


It was written by Francis Scott Key in 1814 with the original poem entitled "Defense of Fort M'Henry". It soon gained popularity when it was sung to the tune of "To Anacreon in Heaven". The combined poem and tune was officially made the National Anthem by Congress in 1931 even though it had previously been adopted as a national anthem by the Army and the Navy. At the time Francis Scott Key wrote this poem, our flag had 15 stars and 15 stripes. I had forgotten this little tidbit of information.


There have been occasions (prior to this current political unrest) where both the first and the fourth stanzas have been sung, so this is not the first time the fourth stanza has been sung. In the fourth stanza, Francis Scott Key urged the adoption of "In God is our Trust" as the national motto. The United States adopted the motto "In God we Trust" by law in 1956.


What else I found to be quite interesting is in researching "The Star-Spangled Banner" there was a 5th verse that was added in 1861 during the start of the Civil War (reference: Wikipedia.org). This 5th stanza only appeared in songbooks of the Civil War era.


I believe that as Americans, we should at least know all the stanzas of The Star-Spangled Banner so, for those of you as curious as I was regarding ALL the stanza's in our National Anthem, here they are (we should all know the first stanza...):

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 through 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 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 the 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!

(this 5th stanza was added in 1861 by Oliver Wendell Holmes and only appeared in songbooks of the Civil War period)

When our land is illumined with liberty's smile,

If a foe from within strikes a blow at her glory,

Down, down with the traitor that tries to defile

The flag of the stars, and the page of her story!

By the millions unchained,

Who their birthright have gained
We will keep her bright blazon forever unstained;

And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave,

While the land of the free is the home of the brave.

Until tomorrow...