The Star Spangled Banner

'The Star Spangled Banner', now known as the famous USA national anthem, was actually a poem written during the American Revolution. This poem, originally "Defence of Fort McHenry", was written by Francis Scott Key. Key wrote it during the American Revolution, during the attack of Fort McHenry at Chesapeake Bay after witnessing the attack by the British Royal Navy. The poem reflects how he still sees how the flag is still standing, after all the bombardment and the fire blowing all around it. The most famous part of the song is the first stanza, which depicts the scene of the battle. "Oh say can you see, by the dawn's early light (this shows the time of the day), What so proudly we hailed by the twilights last gleaming (this is referring to the flag which the "proudle" hailed) Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight, O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming (this describes the flag, and how it was still waving through all the bombing) And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air (these were the bombs that blew up in the field, giving off "red glares) Gave proof through the night, that our flag was still there (so through the "red glare", people could see the flag still waving) Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave? (this last line of the first stanza describes how the flag waves, as a symbol of freedom and bravery). This song is now a popular song of patriotism in the USA.