Rockets Red Glare
Starting at about 7am on Tuesday, September 13th, 1814 until after midnight, the guns of a British fleet rained cannon fire, rockets and "bombs" (actually explosive shells) down on Fort McHenry. The fort guarded the approach to the city of Baltimore. All through the bombardment, a 35-year old lawyer named Francis Scott Key watched from the deck of the British flagship, HMS Surprise. After midnight, the barrage slowly trickled to a stop. Key did not know the outcome of the battle until morning.
As dawn broke over the fort on the morning of September 14th, Key saw the Stars and Stripes still flying defiantly from Fort McHenry. He scribbled a few lines on the back of a letter he had in his pocket.
O say, can you see, by the dawn’s early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming,
The British fleet retired, unable to take Baltimore. Francis Scott Key completed the poem after his release two days later.
By Sylvia, Friday, 14 September , 2007 @ 7:39 pm
You aren’t going to sing for us?
By Gaius, Friday, 14 September , 2007 @ 7:48 pm
Kind of wish they’d used another tune - that one stresses my rather limited vocal range. Lovely poem, though.