The Long Forgotten Second National Anthem

By  //  May 25, 2014

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on LinkedIn Share on Delicious Digg This Stumble This

'The Land of the Free and the home of the brave'

EDITOR’S NOTE: Please use this incredible, compelling video this Memorial Day weekend to honor the men and women who have selflessly defended our nation. It features a retired Marine, who through his dedication and service to our country, decided to honor a local crowd with the long forgotten second verse of our National Anthem. Enjoy!

Below are the additional verses to the Star Spangled Banner:

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 in 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.

bald_eagle_head_and_american_flag-180And 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.

O thus be it ever, when freemen 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 Power that hath made and preserved 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!”

Francis Scott Key looks out on the namesake of his poem, the Star-Spangled Banner. (Image courtesy of Niday Picture Library / Alamy)  Read more: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/people-places/Reluctant_Patriot.html#ixzz2URdd8RKG  Follow us: @SmithsonianMag on Twitter
Francis Scott Key looks out on the namesake of his poem, the Star-Spangled Banner. (Image courtesy of Niday Picture Library / Alamy, Smithsonianmag.com)