The Star Spangled Banner
In 1814, Francis Scott Key wrote the poem, Defense of Fort McHenry. Key's poem was later set to music by John Stafford Smith and re-titled "The Star Spangled Banner."
In 1931, the U.S. Congress proclaimed "The Star Spangled Banner" as our National Anthem.
All of us here at Insightful Accountant would like to wish you a Happy 4th of July as we celebrate America's Independence. And in so doing, please take time to sing (or at least recite) these words of 'our' National Anthem:
Oh, 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, thro' 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 thro' 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 thro' 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 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 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 lov'd homes and the war's desolation;
Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land
Praise the Pow'r that hath made and preserv'd us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause 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!
As we celebrate this July 4th, our Independence Day, let us never forget those who have fought and died for the freedom we enjoy here in the USA, and the foundations of that freedom our forefathers set forth in our Constitution and Bill of Rights.
God Bless America!
Murph
Note: The Insightful Accountant staff and offices will be observing the 4th-of-July Holiday from July 3 through July 6, 2025. We will return to our normal publishing schedule on Monday, July 7, 2025.
