The Star-Spangled Banner
The Star-Spangled Banner is the current national anthem of the United States of America. The poem (lyrics) was written by Francis Scott Key, and the melody came from an old English song. Key wrote the lyrics while aboard the British ship HMS Minden the day after witnessing the bombardment of Fort McHenry by the British during the War of 1812.
The most commonly used section is the first verse, the words of which are:
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,
Oâer the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocketsâ red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
O say, does that star spangled banner yet wave
Oâer the land of the free, and the home of the brave?