What in the world was Francis Scott Key trying to say when he wrote the Star Spangled Banner?
It was a poem about the battle of Fort McHenry during the War of 1812 and was good enough to become our national anthem!
Ladies and gentlemen, please rise for the National Anthem
"O say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last gleaming?"
That's an old-fashioned, super-dramatic way to ask if anyone could tell what had happened in the previous night's battle
"Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro' the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watch'd, were so gallantly streaming?"
Francis Scott Key was watching from a safe distance to see if the American flag was still flying over the Fort
"And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof thro' the night that our flag was still there."
Flashes of light from constant explosions allowed everyone to see that Fort McHenry had not been captured by the British
"O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee."
Please stop
And the home of the brave, STAR
And the home of the brave, SPANGLED
And the home of the brave, BANNER
And the home of the brave!
© 2005 Power Arts Company, Inc.
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