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!
.
From the other verses written by Francis Scott Key
when Fort McHenry was being bombarded on
September 14, 1814.
History: In 1814, about a week after the city of Washington had been badly burned, British troops moved up to the primary port at Baltimore Harbor in Maryland. At dawn on the 14th, Key noted that the huge American flag, which now hangs in the Smithsonian's American History Museum, was still waving and had not been removed in defeat. The sight inspired him to write a poem entitled Defense of Fort McHenry; later the poem was set to music that had been previously composed for another song by a Mr. Smith. The end result was the inspiring song now considered the national anthem of the United States of America. It was accepted as such by public demand for the next century or so... Finally, on March 3, 1931, the American Congress proclaimed it as the national anthem, 116 years after it was first written.
Information from website of National Institutes of Health,
Department of Health & Human Services
.
