The Plymouth Sabbath School Collection of Hymns and Tunes ‎#146

146. O say, can you see by the dawn's early light

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, thro' the perilous fight.
O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming,

Chorus:
And the rocket's red glare, bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof thro' 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 that shore dimly seen thro' 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;

Chorus:
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.

3 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 footstep's pollution.
No refuge can save the hireling and slave.
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave; [Chorus]

4 O thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation;
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land
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!" [Chorus]

Text Information

• First Line: O say, can you see by the dawn's early light
• Publication Date: 1865
• Notes: Public Domain. Newly arranged and brought within an easy compass for Chorus Singing

Tune Information

• Name: THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER
• Composer: Wm. B. Bradbury
• Key: B♭ Major