Defence of Fort M'Henry

Defence of Fort M'Henry

Original Text
"Defence of For M'Henry," Analectic Magazine 4 (Nov. 1814): 433-34. Toronto Metro Public Reference Library.
Tune -- ANACREON IN HEAVEN
2    What so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last gleaming,
3Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
4    O'er the ramparts we watch'd, were so gallantly streaming?
5        And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
6        Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there --
7            O! say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
8            O'er the land of the free, and the home of the brave?
9On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
10    Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
11What is that which the breeze o'er the towering steep,
12    As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
13        Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
14        In full glory reflected now shines on the stream --
15            'Tis the star-spangled banner, O! long may it wave
16            O'er the land of the free, and the home of the brave.
17And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
18    That the havock of war and the battle's confusion
19A home and a country should leave us no more?
20    Their blood has wash'd out their foul foot-steps' pollution,
21        No refuge could save the hireling and slave,
22        From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave;
23            And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
24            O'er the land of the free, and the home of the brave.
25O! thus be it ever when freemen shall stand
26    Between their lov'd home, and the war's desolation,
27Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land
28    Praise the power that hath made and preserv'd us a nation!
29        Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
30        And this be our motto -- "In God is our trust!"
31            And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
32            O'er the land of the free, and the home of the brave.

Notes

1] The editorial introduction in Analectic Magazine is as follows ... "These lines have been already published in several of our newpapers; they may still, however, be new to many of our readers. Besides, we think their merit entitles them to preservation in some more permanent form than the columns of a daily paper. The annexed song was composed under the following circumstances. -- A gentleman had left Baltimore, in a flag of truce for the purpose of getting released from the British fleet a friend of his who had been captured at Marlborough. He went as far as the mouth of the Patuxent, and was not permitted to return lest the intended attack on Baltimore should be disclosed. He was, therefore, brought up the bay to the mouth of the Patapsco, where the flag vessel was kept under the guns of a frigate, and he was compelled to witness the bombardment of Fort M'Henry, which the Admiral had boasted he would carry in a few hours, and that the city must fall. He watched the flag at the fort through the whole day with an anxiety that can be better felt than described, until the night prevented him from seeing it. In the night he watched the bomb-shells, and at early dawn his eye was again greeted by the proudly-waving flag of his country." (p. 55) Back to Line
Publication Start Year
1814
Publication Notes
Baltimore American Sept. 21, 1814.
RPO poem Editors
Ian Lancashire
RPO Edition
RPO 1998.
Rhyme