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Hymne Américain |
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The Star-Spangled Banner Francis Scott Key went to visit the British fleet in Chesapeake Bay on Sept. 13, 1814, with the mission of obtaining the release of Dr. William Beanes (captured after the burning of Washington, D.C.). Although he was able to accomplish his mission, Key was forced to spend the night on the ship. During that night, Fort McHenry, one of the forts defending Baltimore, was shelled. The next morning, Key was overjoyed to see that the American flag was still flying over the fort, and he began to write a poem in honor of this occasion. The poem was published under the title "Defense of Fort M'Henry"; it soon became immensely popular and was sung to the tune "To Anacreon in Heaven". The origin of this tune is obscure, but it is possible that John Stafford Smith, a British composer born in 1750, may be the author. In 1931, Congress officially designated "The Star-Spangled Banner" ("La Bannière Etoilée") as the National Anthem; it had already been adopted previously by the Army and the Navy. Usually, only the first stanza is sung.
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. O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave? II 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 on the stream: 'Tis the star-spangled banner: O, long may it wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave! III 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 footsteps' 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. IV O thus be it ever when free-men shall stand Between their loved home and the war's desolation; Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land Praise the Pow'r that hath made and preserv'd 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! |
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