On Flag Day, visitors stand before the original Star-Spangled Banner, the flag that inspired Francis Scott Key to write the U.S. National Anthem, at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C, June 14, 2023. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)
The four original stanzas of our national anthem give us hope.
The four original stanzas of our national anthem give us hope.
Hope, once kindled, is a difficult feeling to extinguish. Francis Scott Key, poet of the lyrics to our national anthem, clearly was compelled by it as he saw the sun’s rays through the war-torn holes of our flag after a sleepless night of unknowns.
In 1814, the American lawyer witnessed the U.S. defense of Fort McHenry in Baltimore against the British Royal Navy during the War of 1812. After he saw the American flag still waving over the fort at daybreak, he wrote “Defence of Fort M’Henry” as an expression of his intense relief, patriotism, and, yes, hope. After publication, the poem was set to the melody of a British tune, “To Anacreon in Heaven”; it was officially adopted as the American national anthem in 1931.
The original poem has four stanzas, all of which make up our official anthem, but the first stanza is the only widely known and sung portion. On our Semiquincentennial, the complete lyrics are well worth contemplating, as they offer valuable insight into Key’s beliefs about what would sustain these United States.
The first stanza, familiar to virtually all, famously ends as follows:
O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
Most Americans stand with their hands over their hearts as they sing this, or listen, with pride. It is often portrayed as a definitive, triumphant statement, and it acts as a familiar rallying cry before a baseball game, among other occasions. But if you look closely, you will see a question mark at the end of the stanza: “O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave / O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?” The stanza poses a question. It is not a declaration of certainty, but an acknowledgment of uncertainty. Key sees the flag and sighs with relief as his nation continues on for another day, but its existence is not a given. What will it take to preserve it for centuries to come? The poem continues in the second stanza:
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 — O long may it wave O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
This second stanza has the poem’s first exclamation point, making this a strong declaration of hope. With the retreat of the British, the flag waves, and Key writes “long may it wave.” It is still not a definitive statement of certainty; rather, it’s radical aspiration. The third stanza continues:
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 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.
In true American fashion, Key here is mocking the British and basking in America’s victory, with a statement referring to his present day: “And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave.” This stanza is an expression of American patriotism, heightened by both his relief after the win and his hatred for the war, which he opposed.
Depiction of Francis Scott Key standing on boat with his right arm stretched out toward the United States flag flying over Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Md. Painting by Edward Percy Moran, 1912 (Pierce Archive LLC/Buyenlarge via Getty Images)
The fourth and final stanza is a call to action for the preservation of the country and the assurance of its future, with the word shall conspicuously placed at the stanza’s beginning and end:
O thus be it ever when freemen 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 power 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.
With this word “shall,” Key expresses exactly what he believes will ensure America’s future and keep the banner waving: patriotism, justice, and faith.
At the beginning of the stanza, Key claims that it is up to the “freemen,” the people of the United States, to stand against their nation’s destruction. It will be their love for their home and its land that will help sustain it. Despite his opposition to the war against Britain, Key recognized the need for arms when the cause was just. However, the focal point of the final stanza is his reference to his faith. A devout Episcopalian, Key indicates that the United States was a “heav’n rescued land” and that he will “praise the power” that made America what it was: God.
America isn’t perfect, but these 250 years are worth celebrating indeed, as we tend the same unextinguishable hope that Francis Scott Key once felt — for the next 250.
