THIS IS OUR ANTHEM

By Michelle Malkin

In response to the "Nuestro Himno" illegal alien anthem nonsense, I thought it would be nice to celebrate the history of our national anthem--instead of rewriting it to pander to ethnic grievance-mongers who don't respect Amerian laws or traditions.

Via Wikipedia, here's a copy of Francis Scott Key's original manuscript of the "Star-Spangled Banner" poem:

And here's one of five copies that his brother-in-law printed up as a broadside titled, "Defence of Fort McHenry:"

From the Library of Congress website, here's a copy of the first printed edition of the anthem combining words and music -- one of only ten copies known to exist:

And the text:

(The Defense of Fort McHenry)
September 20, 1814
By Francis Scott Key

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,
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 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!

***

Previous:
The anthem and the White House website
Your new national anthem (full audio of Nuestro Himno linked)
Whose national anthem?
The illegal alien anthem

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