How many know the 2nd verse to the National Anthem?

Hymnal | Way back.... | Francis Scott Key

[TheBattman]

I honestly can say I didn't know and had never heard the 2nd verse of the Star Spangled Banner until church service tonight. It is quite moving!

[keithtoo]

They used to play all the verses late at night when most stations signed off early in the morning. Some still do.

[TwoStep]

I never knew this 2nd verse. Thanks for posting it. **God Bless America** Eagles Up!!

[RippleFire]

Actually it's the 4th verse.

[mdittmar]

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.

The Star-Spangled Banner.

Francis Scott Key

Found this a few days ago.

[Livn4Golf]

I think these are the second and third verses. I do sometimes sing the beginning of this second verse at baseball games just to get weird looks.

"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'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! Oh 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!"


My favorite part of the SSB is that the first verse ends with a ? and verses two and three end with !'s.

[Joee]

It was sung in my church this morning and hell few knew the !ST verse, much less beyond that. Personally, I'd like to see it changed to America the Beautiful.

[TheBattman]

Thanks for the additions.

I had no idea about the other verses, but they all seem to be quite powerful!

[T. P. Pole]

On this image of the original copy of the Star Spangled Banner you can see that there are four verses, and you had listed the fourth.

[Corazon]

Here is the full copy I found THE STAR SPANGELED BANNER Oh, say can you see, by the dawn's early light, What so proudly we hailed 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 the 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'er the towering steep, As it fitfully blows, now conceals, now discloses? Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam, n 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 wiped out their foul footstep's 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. Oh! 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, for our cause it is just, And this be our motto: "In God is our trust." And the star-spangled banner forever shall wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave! The Defense of Fort McHenryBy Sir Francis Scott Key, 20 September 1814 -------------------------------- WOULD YOU LIKE TO VISIT MY MEMORIAL PAGE HAS THE LIRICS OF AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL.

[Captainpaintball]

Thank you! Bumped and Bookmarked!

[eccentric]

My daughter said her music teacher didn't want to have the class sing it last week because she wasn't sure everyone knew the words ----- I e-mailed all four verses to her

[TLI]

Ok, I see this one is just getting started so how about all 8 verses of.......

 

America the Beautiful
By Katharine Lee Bates;

Music by Parke W. Hewins

O beautiful for spacious skies,

For amber waves of grain,

For purple mountain majesties

Above the fruited plain!

America! America!

God shed his grace on thee

And crown thy good with brotherhood

From sea to shining sea!

O beautiful for pilgrim feet

Whose stern impassioned stress

A thoroughfare for freedom beat

Across the wilderness!

America! America!

God mend thine every flaw,

Confirm thy soul in self-control,

Thy liberty in law!

O beautiful for heroes proved

In liberating strife.

Who more than self the country loved

And mercy more than life!

America! America!

May God thy gold refine

Till all success be nobleness

And every gain divine!

O beautiful for patriot dream

That sees beyond the years

Thine alabaster cities gleam

Undimmed by human tears!

America! America!

God shed his grace on thee

And crown thy good with brotherhood

From sea to shining sea!

 

O beautiful for halcyon skies,

For amber waves of grain,

For purple mountain majesties

Above the enameled plain!

America! America!

God shed his grace on thee

Till souls wax fair as earth and air

And music-hearted sea!

O beautiful for pilgrims feet,

Whose stem impassioned stress

A thoroughfare for freedom beat

Across the wilderness!

America! America!

God shed his grace on thee

Till paths be wrought through

wilds of thought

By pilgrim foot and knee!

O beautiful for glory-tale

Of liberating strife

When once and twice,

for man's avail

Men lavished precious life!

America! America!

God shed his grace on thee

Till selfish gain no longer stain

The banner of the free!

O beautiful for patriot dream

That sees beyond the years

Thine alabaster cities gleam

Undimmed by human tears!

America! America!

God shed his grace on thee

Till nobler men keep once again

Thy whiter jubilee!

[wetickel]

There is an old canard that during the Battle of the Bulge, Germans who spoke fluent English were donning American uniforms and infiltrating American positions to cause havoc. When any suspicious-seeming GIs were being interrogated and asked to prove their bona-fides, it is said that they were asked if they knew the second verse of the Star Spangled Banner and that, if they knew it, they were shot immediately.

[MasonGal]

What you said about many of the folks who didn't know the 1st verse of the "Star Spangled Banner"--reminded me of something I heard on Paul Harvey (I think it was Paul H.) about contestants of the Miss America Pageant.

Evidently, contestants were interviewed shortly arriving in Atlantic City last week (before 9/11) for their "pre-interview" sessions. I cannot remember the exact number, but suffice it to say, that the majority of the contestants could not even name the Vice President of the United States!!

WHEW - we've got a big job ahead of us...

[Little John]

I think it would be great to hear My Country Tis of Thee again, particularly during times like this.

[TLI]

Okay...

America (My Country ‘Tis of Thee)
by Rev. Samuel F. Smith

My country! 'tis of thee,

Sweet land of liberty,

Of thee I sing;

Land where my fathers died,

Land of the pilgrims' pride,

From ev'ry mountainside

Let freedom ring.

My native country, thee,

Land of the noble free,

Thy name I love;

I love the rocks and rills,

Thy woods and templed hills,

My heart with rapture thrills

Like that above.

 

Let music swell the breeze,

And ring from all the trees,

Sweet freedom's song;

Let mortal tongues awake,

Let all that breathes partake,

Let rocks for silence break,

The sound prolong.

 

Our father's God to Thee,

Author of liberty

To thee we sing;

Long may our land be bright,

With freedom's holy light,

Protect us by thy might,

Great God, our King.

[TLI]

AWWWRIGHT,  Let's just let it ALL hang out.

Battle Hymn of the Republic

By Julia Ward Howe

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord;

He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;

He hath loosed the fateful lightning of his terrible swift sword:

His truth is marching on.

CHORUS

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

His truth is marching on.

I have seen him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps;

They have builded him an altar in the evening dews and damps;

I can read his righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps;

His day is marching on. (CHORUS)

I have read a fiery gospel, writ in burnished rows of steel:

"As ye deal with my contemners, so with you my grace shall deal;

Let the Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with his heel,

Since God is marching on." (CHORUS)

He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat;

He is sifting out the hearts of men before his judgment-seat;

Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer him! be jubilant, my feet!

Our God is marching on. (CHORUS)

In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,

With a glory in his bosom that transfigures you and me:

As he died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,

While God is marching on. (CHORUS)

[rdf]

Here is a link to the whole of the National Anthem, posted at FR.

The land of the Free ...

Cheers,

Richard F.

[Chemnitz]

Goosebumps. I have never read all the verses before.