Analysis of Defence of Fort McHenry (Stars and Stripes Forever)

Francis Scott Key 1779 (Carroll County) – 1843 (Baltimore)



O! say can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watch'd, 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?

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.

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havock of war and the battle's confusion
A home and a country should leave us no more?
Their blood has wash'd out their foul foot-steps' 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.

O! thus be it ever when freemen shall stand
Between their lov'd home, and the war's desolation,
Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land
Praise the power 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.


Scheme ababccdD efefggdD hihidddD jijikkdD
Poetic Form
Metre 11111101101 111011101110 111011101001 1001110110010 001011011001 111011101111 11111101011 1001101001101 101101101101 10110101101 1111011001001 1110011011010 111001101011 011001011101 101101011111 1001101001101 011111111 101110010010 01001011111 111111111010 110110101 101011101101 001101001011 1001101001101 11111011011 01111001010 11101101101 10101110011010 110111101111 0111010011101 001101001011 1001101001101
Closest metre Iambic hexameter
Characters 1,680
Words 317
Sentences 14
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 8, 8, 8, 8
Lines Amount 32
Letters per line (avg) 41
Words per line (avg) 10
Letters per stanza (avg) 327
Words per stanza (avg) 79
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 07, 2023

1:40 min read
204

Francis Scott Key

Francis Scott Key was an American lawyer, author, and amateur poet, from Georgetown, who wrote the lyrics to the United States' national anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner". more…

All Francis Scott Key poems | Francis Scott Key Books

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