African American Heritage Hymnal ‎#606

606. The Star-Spangled Banner

1 O 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?

2 On the shore, dimly seen thro' the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dead silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows half conceals, half discloses?
And 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!

3 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 Pow'r 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.

Text Information

• First Line: O say can you see by the dawn's early light
• Title: The Star-Spangled Banner
• Author: Francis S. Key, 1779-1843
• Meter: Irregular
• Language: English
• Publication Date: 2001
• Scripture:
  Psalm 20:7
• Topic: Patriotic

Tune Information

• Name: STAR SPANGLED BANNER
• Composer: John S. Smith, 1750-1836
• Meter: Irregular
• Key: A♭ Major