August 1st is the birthday of Francis Scott Key. Key, as you know, is the author of the Star Spangled Banner.
Years ago I was standing at attention during the national anthem. The scoreboard overhead displayed the words (probably because so many of us forget them!). At then end of the song, the displayed words ended with a question mark:
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
My friend next to me said, “why is there a question mark at the end?” That’s a great question. And, it’s a question that must be answered if we are to understand our own national anthem in America.
Unfortunately, we normally just stop after one stanza and get on with our game, event, etc. However, Key does answer the question! The second stanza says:
On the shore, dimly seen through 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?
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! Oh long may it wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
Okay, okay. I guess we could have figured out the answer to the question on our own. If the flag was not still standing, there wouldn’t be a United States of America today. But to do justice to the poem of Francis Scott Key, set to music, we should really sing the entire song. By the way, the fourth stanza is my favorite:
Oh! 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.”
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
IF we praised The One who made us a nation, The One who preserved us a nation …
IF our motto would truly be: “In God is our trust” …
THEN … our flag will continue to wave over the land of the free.
So, on Francis Scott Key’s birthday, let’s remember the ENTIRE poem that he wrote, including the answers to his questions.
And, let’s stay on the narrow path …
Larry
P.S.  I have a monologue-type drama that I wrote in which Francis Scott Key tells the story of when he wrote the Star Spangled Banner. It would be great to use in a homeschool setting, as well as for family gatherings or even before an entire church! Here’s the link to get more information:
