Below: The 1898 monument to
Francis Scott Key, under which he and his wife, Mary Taylor Key, are
interred. Key is represented by a 9-foot tall bronze statue on top of
a 15-foot pedestal. A statue of Columbia, the goddess of patriotism,
is located on the front of the pedestal. Columbia is flanked
on her left by an adolescent boy representing war, and on her right
by a young boy representing music. This represents the moment that inspired
the poem "Defense of Fort McHenry" which Key wrote
after witnessing the bombardment of the fort by British Royal Naval
Ships in Chesapeake Bay in the War of 1812. This poem became the national
anthem of the United States of America. |
Below: The 4 verses of
The "Star-Spangled Banner"
O say can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming
And the rocket's 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 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!
And 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 wash'd out their foul footstep's 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. |
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