From a reader, after I had boasted a while ago about knowing the second

verse of the National Anthem: “Every West Point cadet memorizes the fourth

verse of the National Anthem, but you may be alone with the second.”

I never knew that.

Here’s the fourth verse of our National Anthem:

O thus be it ever,
When free men shall stand
Between their loved homes
And the war’s desolation;
Blest with vict’ry and peace,
May the heav’n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made
And preserved us a nation!
Then conquer me 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.