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“The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States, with lyrics written in 1814 by Francis Scott Key. Key, a 35-year-old amateur poet, wrote them as a poem after seeing the bombardment of Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Maryland by United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland British ships in Chesapeake Bay during the War of 1812.
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.
I have added a personal verse as a response to each verse of the anthem
Oh say can you see
YES I see you America
By the dawn’s early light
YOUR light shines on us all
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming,
I FELT the chill run down my back
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight,
SO MANY have died defending your cause
O’er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
I have never seen such a triumphant sight
And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air
"The Battle at Fort McHenry"
THE scene and sound enough to revive the dead
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
SHE waves freely through the dark as well as she does in the light
O say does that star spangled banner yet wave
SHE continues to wave in spite of all her country’s flaws
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
IF YOU are free it is your land, if you are brave it is your home
"The Star Spangled Banner Flag" fifteen stars, fifteen strips
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