Posted on 09/14/2006 8:44:48 AM PDT by TaxachusettsMan
The Star-Spangled Banner: verse two
O thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved homes and the war's desolation!
Blest with vict'ry 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 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, 1779-1843)
The second verse of our National Anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner."
I'll tell you one thing, if I owned a sports franchise, I'd DEMAND that everyone singing the National Anthem at every sports event sing BOTH verses - and project the text onto the jumbotrons.
I wonder if the time hasn't come - or maybe it's long past time - that we recover, revive, and rededicate ourselves to "the forgotten verse."
This is the 2nd verse, not the 4th?
Back in the 70s, the Golden State Warriors used to have the second verse sung before games. They won a chapionship one year and were contenders several others. Since they dropped the verse, the team has been in the cellar.
Heck, why stop at 2? Make 'em sing all four!
Although, I've heard the other three verses sung before, and they don't fit as comfortably into the tune as the primary verse does.
Could be the fourth verse - I don't know. The old hymnal had just two verses (I suppose this one being considered most appropriate in church?).
I LOVE that verse! Ironically, the first time I ever heard it was 35 years ago, on a PBS station in Tallahassee, where SirKit was in graduate school. This was when TV stations still signed off at 1 or 2 in the morning, and played the National Anthem as they did. This station's version was played with simple guitar accompaniment, and had two women singing. When they got to the line "Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just", they broke into two part harmony. It was just beautiful!
Been singing all four for a number of years, but this is my favorite. But since most people can't even sing the words to the first verse, including Teddy Kennedy (I think that's who it was on 9-11 who was at the mic and busted the very first sentence . . . O say can you see by the star spangled ban--oopss!
I love that verse. My 5th grade teacher made us memorize and sing it whenever we sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" and I will always thank her for it.
But I bet Teddy could have managed "Bottle of Wine" at the old "Blond-In-Pond" Saloon in Hyannisport - NO PROBLEMO!
Yea, try singing it.
I e-mailed the RNC in 2004 urging it to use this stanza at the convention. Never heard back from them.
How dare we sing of GOD and FREEDOM? /sarc
The first and fourth/final verses together are a shorter, but essentially complete "picture" of the whole. Where the first verse ends in a question, the fourth answers it.
We had to memorize all the verses of America the Beautiful - and I've often thought how different the decisions of some members of the judiciary might be if these lines were more commonly known:
"America! America! God mend thine every flaw, / Confirm thy soul in self-control, / Thy liberty in law!"
Powerful!
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 thro' 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 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 wash'd 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!
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, 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 thro' 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:
'T is 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 wash'd 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 lov'd homes 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 as 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!
Don't forget VICTORY and TRIUMPH. No, we can't have *that*. It would mean that someone else had to LOSE, and that might make them feel bad.
And how many Americans, even among those who know the words to the first verse, realize that it ends as a question?
In today's political climate it's a good question. Does that Star-Spangled Banner still wave over the land of the free and home of the brave?
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