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,
Through 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
Thru 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 in 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 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!
Francis Scott Key auf der HMS Minden, gelegen bei Baltimore, 3. September 1814
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 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
Thru 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 in 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 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!
Francis Scott Key auf der HMS Minden, gelegen bei Baltimore, 3. September 1814