An Anthem of Awe

Oh, 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, through 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 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 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'ver 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 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 freemen shall stand
Between their loved homes and the war's desolation
Blest with victory and peace, may the heaven-rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation
Then conquer we must, when our cause 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!