American National Anthem

[Tom Earp]

Our National Anthem

Unless you are one of the very few Americans who know all four stanzas of the Star Spangled Banner you may find this exceptionally interesting. Perhaps most of you didn't realize what Francis Scott Key's profession was or what he was doing on a British warship. This is a good brush-up on your American history.

(Editor's Note- Near the end of his life, the great science fiction author Isaac Asimov wrote a short story about the four stanzas of our national anthem. However brief, this well-circulated piece is an eye opener.)

NO REFUGE COULD SAVE: BY DR. ISAAC ASIMOV

I was once asked to speak at a luncheon. Taking my life in my hands, I announced I was going to sing our national anthem -- all four stanzas. This was greeted with loud ! groans. One man closed the door to the kitchen , where the noise of dishes and cutlery was loud and distracting. "Thanks, Herb," I said.

"That's all right," he said. "It was at the request of the kitchen staff"

I explained the background of the anthem and then sang all four stanzas. Let me tell you, those people had never heard it before -- or had never really listened. I got a standing ovation. But it was not me; it was the anthem.

More recently, while conducting a seminar, I told my students the story of the anthem and sang all four stanzas. Again there was a wild ovation and prolonged applause. And again, it was the anthem and not me.

So now let me tell you how it came to be written.

In 1812, the United States went to war with Great Britain , primarily over freedom of the seas. We were in the right. For two years, we held off the British, even though we were still a rather weak country. Great Britain was in a life and death struggle with Napoleon. In fact, just as the United States declared war, Napoleon marched off to invade Russia . If he won, as everyone expected, he would control Europe, and Great Britain would be isolated. It was no time for her to be involved in an American war.

At first, our seamen proved better than the British. After we won a battle on Lake Erie in 1813, the American commander, Oliver Hazard Perry, sent the message, "We have met the enemy and they are ours." However, the weight of the British navy beat down our ships eventually. New England , hard-hit by a tightening blockade, threatened secession.

Meanwhile, Napoleon was beaten in Russia and in 1814 was forced to abdicate. Great Britain now turned its attention to the United States, launching a three-pronged attack.

The northern prong was to come down Lake Champlain toward New York and seize parts of New England .

The southern prong was to go up the Mississippi , take New Orleans and paralyze the west.

The central prong was to head for the mid-Atlantic states and then attack Baltimore , the greatest port south of New York . If Baltimore were taken, the nation, which still hugged the Atlantic coast, could be split in two. The fate of the United States , then , rested to a large extent on the success or failure of the central prong.

The British reached the American coast, and on August 24, 1814, took Washington , D.C. Then they moved up the Chesapeake Bay toward Baltimore . On September 12, they arrived and found 1,000 men in Fort McHenry , whose guns controlled the harbor. If the British wished to take Baltimore , they would have to take the fort.

On one of the British ships was an aged physician, William Beanes, who had been arrested in Maryland and brought along as a prisoner. Francis Scott Key, a lawyer and friend of the physician, had come to the ship to negotiate his release.

The British captain was willing, but the two Americans would have to wait. It was now the night of September 13, and the bombardment of Fort McHenry was about to start.

As twilight deepened, Key and Beanes saw the American flag flying over Fort McHenry . Through the night, they heard bombs bursting and saw the red glare of rockets. They knew the fort was resisting and the American flag was still flying. But toward morning the bombardment ceased, and a dread silence fell. Either Fort McHenry had surrendered and the British flag flew above it, or the bombardment had failed and the American flag still flew.

As dawn began to brighten the eastern sky, Key and Beanes stared out at the fort, trying to see which flag flew over it. He and the physician must have asked each other over and over, "Can you see the flag?"

After it was all finished, Key wrote a four stanza poem telling the events of the night. Called "The Defense of Fort McHenry ," it was published in newspapers and swept the nation. Someone noted that the words fit an old English tune called, "To Anacreon in Heaven" -- a difficult melody with an uncomfortably large vocal range. For obvious reasons, Key's work became known as "The Star Spangled Banner," and in 1931 Congress declared it the official anthem of the United States .

Now that you know the story, here are the words. Presumably, the old doctor is speaking. This is what he asks Key:

Oh! 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 rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof thro' the night that our flag was still there.
Oh! say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave,
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

("Ramparts," in case you don't know, are the protective walls or other elevations that surround a fort.) The first stanza asks a question. The second gives an answer:

On the shore, dimly seen thro' the mist 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 on the stream
'Tis the star-spangled banner. Oh! long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

"The towering steep" is again, the ramparts. The bombardment has failed, and the British can do nothing more but sail away, their mission a failure. In the third stanza I feel Key allows himself to gloat over the American triumph. In the aftermath of the bombardment, Key probably was in no mood to act otherwise? ?During World War I when the British were our Staunchest allies, this third stanza was not sung. However, I know it, so here it is:

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 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.

(The fourth stanza, a pious hope for the future, should be sung more slowly than the other three and with even deeper feeling):

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved homes and the war's desolation,
Blest with victory and peace, may the Heaven - rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, for our cause is just,
And this be our motto --"In God is our trust."
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

I hope you will look at the national anthem with new eyes. Listen to it, the next time you have a chance, with new ears. Pay attention to the words. And don't let them ever take it away ... not even one word of it.

AND IT'S SUNG IN ENGLISH!!!

[RU OX Alum]

only the first stanza was made into the national anthem and the national motto until sometime in the 1970's was "E Pluribus Unum"

the last three stanzas are not now, nor ever were, part of the US national anthem

thanks for posting email forwards again though

[SWTXBelle]

Originally Posted by RU OX Alum

only the first stanza was made into the national anthem and the national motto until sometime in the 1970's was "E Pluribus Unum"

the last three stanzas are not now, nor ever were, part of the US national anthem

thanks for posting email forwards again though

Actually, all four stanzas were included in the March 3, 1931 law signed by Herbert Hoover making the song the naional anthem. Before that it was used by the Navy (from 1889 onwards) as the official song to be played at the raising of the flag.
Key's "motto" reference isn't to the official national motto but more along the lines of a suggested one, if you will. While "E Pluribus Unum" was used on the Great Seal of the U.S. it was never made official, and in 1956 the official motto was indeed made "In God We Trust", and it remains so until this day.

And I hate cut and pasted forwarded e-mails, too.

[Tom Earp]

So, you do not like it and how am I supposed to care?

It is something to see and discuss.

If you so do not like it then do not post.

I take it you do not like information or other peoples thoughts?

[DaemonSeid]

Originally Posted by Tom Earp

Is it the correct song for the USA or America The BEUTIFUL?

If you are going to capitalize and italicize something to express a point (BEAUTIFUL) at least spell it right.

Originally Posted by Tom Earp

So, you do not like it and how am I supposed to care?

It is something to see and discuss.

If you so do not like it then do not post.

I take it you do not like information or other peoples thoughts?

Clue:

K.I.S.S.

Keep It Short and Simple

Originally Posted by DaemonSeid

Clue:

K.I.S.S.

Keep It Short and Simple

When I was in high school, we had a speaker come in and introduce the K.I.S.S concept.

Except his was "Keep It Simple, Stupid!"

[KSig RC]

Hello Everyone,


And thank you for signing up for my Beta Email Tracking Application or (BETA) for short. My name is Bill Gates. Here at Microsoft we have just compiled an e-mail tracing program that tracks everyone to whom this message is forwarded to. It does this through an unique IP (Internet Protocol) address log book database. We are experimenting with this and need your help. Forward this to everyone you know and if it reaches 1000 people everyone on the list you will receive $1000 and a copy of Windows98 at my expense.

Enjoy.

Note: Duplicate entries will not be counted. You will be notified by email with further instructions once this email has reached 1000 people. Windows98 will not be shipped until it has been released to the general public.

Your friend,
Bill Gates & The Microsoft Development Team.

[KSigkid]

Originally Posted by KSig RC

Hello Everyone,


And thank you for signing up for my Beta Email Tracking Application or (BETA) for short. My name is Bill Gates. Here at Microsoft we have just compiled an e-mail tracing program that tracks everyone to whom this message is forwarded to. It does this through an unique IP (Internet Protocol) address log book database. We are experimenting with this and need your help. Forward this to everyone you know and if it reaches 1000 people everyone on the list you will receive $1000 and a copy of Windows98 at my expense.

Enjoy.

Note: Duplicate entries will not be counted. You will be notified by email with further instructions once this email has reached 1000 people. Windows98 will not be shipped until it has been released to the general public.

Your friend,
Bill Gates & The Microsoft Development Team.

Can I give you my bank account number and PIN code? Would that make it easier to deposit the $1000 in my account?

I'm also still waiting for my GAP gift card. One would think I'd get a lot of karma points for sending money to that Nigerian prince, after all the trouble he's had.

[tld221]

oh.snap.

[GeekyPenguin]

Originally Posted by tld221

oh.snap.

Best animated gift ever? I think yes.

[tinydancer]

Originally Posted by GeekyPenguin

Best animated gift ever? I think yes.

You are correct, sister!

[BabyPiNK_FL]

I have never learned "Lift Every Voice and Sing" (My mom bought me the sheet music but I never liked the melody and never went to many events were it was sung.)

But I do know the national anthem (and when I was little I did harass my mom into getting me a copy of all four stanzas!) Although I dont' think we should have to sing them all...they are kinda uh-interesting as someone previously said.

I do know the Battle Hymn of the Republic (first stanza)

I can also sing:
Most of "This Land is Your Land"
America the Beautiful (I used to know all, but now just the first)
Let Freedom Ring aka My Country T'is of Thee (used to know more, now just the first part)

I'm sure there are some others, but it's been so long since elementary school...we were big on patriotic materials and I loved to sing so it was fun!

[DSTCHAOS]

Thank God for the first stanza because the rest is...interesting.

Coincidentally, all three stanzas of "Lift Every Voice and Sing" are usually sung everytime the Anthem is sung.

Stop hazing us with your inbox, Tom Earp.

[tld221]

Originally Posted by DSTCHAOS

Thank God for the first stanza because the rest is...interesting.

Coincidentally, all three stanzas of "Lift Every Voice and Sing" are usually sung everytime the Anthem is sung.

Stop hazing us with your inbox, Tom Earp.

really? most places ive been cut it after the first verse. probably cause no one knows the rest, and in the interest of time.

[Tom Earp]

Originally Posted by tld221

really? most places ive been cut it after the first verse. probably cause no one knows the rest, and in the interest of time.

So, you are actually correct!

Who in the heck knows?

Is it the correct song for the USA or America The BEUTIFUL?

OOPS, now coming off of caps lox!