Key, "The Defence of Fort McHenry"

“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? “
This quote stood out to me because I feel like it’s saying that war isn’t always the answer and that we should strive for peace. War does reek havoc on the citizens of the country. But no matter what happens, as a country we will persevere.

"O thus be it ever when freemen shall stand
Between their lov'd home and the war's desolation!"

This quote really made me think about the numerous wars that have been fought throughout human history. Battles have been waged for various reasons, but hasn't everyone fought to protect their beloved home from whatever enemy war brings? Then again, not everyone who has stood to protect a land has been free, though I would imagine that free men would fight to the death to protect that freedom. Free men would know what it was to be free and they could acutely experience the pain of that loss as opposed to another who was never free to begin with.

“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,”

I really like these lines they are so vived, you can see the footstep’s and smell the blood. “The defence of fort McHenry” shows loalty to the war heriors but also gets to the details that show the pain. Its not for or against war.

“Their blood has wash’s 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,”

I really like these lines they are so vivid, you can see the footsteps and smell the blood. “The defense of fort McHenry” shows loyalty to the war heroism but also gets to the details that show the pain. It’s not for or against war.

I found the lines, "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" interesting. I was confused by the meaning behind these lines. I didn't know whether or not Key purposely called attention to the slaves because they were not a free people, but regardless he did. The war that was being fought(the War of 1812)was for the freedom of the people of the states against Britian. The thing about that is that slaves were not considered people, they were considered property. It made me upset to think of all the slaves who died for the sake of freedom that they would not get until much later.

"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..." (Third Stanza) I remember my 9th grade history teacher passing out copies of the Star-Spangled Banner in class and making us analyze the first verse. She told us that there were other verses, but they talked about marching in the enemy's blood and other unpleasant things. I am guessing that this is what she had been talking about. I can understand why we only sing the first verse--I am pretty sure that the British might be a little offended if we belted these lines out at a baseball game. However, I do not think that the other verses should be forgotten; they offer insight into what it really felt like to be at that battle.

"No refuge could save the hirling and slave from the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave and the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave."

So this poem we are all quite familiar with, at least the shorter version. This quote recognizes the horror that war involves, yet the flag still waves. It proves we are a strong country to defeat anything that comes at us. With such a strong background of victory, America can do anything. Now, centuries later, this poem is still not outdated. It still represents the country and society in which we live.

"And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country, shall leave us no more?"

I really liked this quote and I felt that especially today, a poem that has to do with war was very relevant. From this quote, I feel like it's saying that war was supposed to be the answer to the problems that the country was having, and once that war was over, everything would be okay again. The country would really be a home and we shouldn't have to go back to war to make it a home again. To me, it feels like there's a sense of hope for the future, that everything will be alright.

I too picked out the quote “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,” I choose this because it gives the reader such a vivid mental picture. It like one can almost see whats hapening at that precise moment in time. Its just a very powerful statement that really stood out to me.

"No refuge could save the hirling and slave
from the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave" This part of the poem struck my interest. When I ignored the context of poem, I found that the author was making a very potent statement. He was saying that all human beings are equal because we all feel the need to sometimes shy away from difficult and we all fear death.

"Then conquer we must, when cause it is just,/And this be our motto- 'In God is our trust.' "
This quote interested me mainly because of the words "'In God is our trust.'" An almost exact version of this phrase is currently on all of our currency. I wonder if this phrase was on the currency before Key wrote this poem/song or if the phrase was taken from his work when more recent currency was designed. The theme of war as a way to promote goodness is also a major part of this poem and can be viewed in this excerpt. I have always found this idea to be somewhat hypocritical. How can death and violence be associated with goodness and fair justice? However, this concept has existed since the beginning of humanity and will no doubt continue.

“Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just.” The moment I read this, I was disturbed. Images of the war in Iraq and all of the debates over its rationalization were immediately conjured up in my mind. While the circumstances in which Key wrote “The Defence of Fort McHenry” fits the bill of being a just cause (we were the ones being attacked after all), I do not like the attitude conveyed by this phrase. It seems foolish to me to believe that even if our aggressive actions are “just,” that we will be exonerated of them. Or that we will be blameless for whatever consequences may arise. Whether our deeds are correct or not is a very subjective matter to determine; what I consider proper may not seem so to someone else. However, Key does also include some of the horrors of “war’s desolation”. It is simply important to find a balance between “a just cause” and what the consequences may turn out to be.

"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-"
I liked reading this part because the imagery is strong. It start mysterious, with "mists of the deep," and I can imagine being at sea, and in the distance is a foggy shore. I hear the silence mentioned in the next line. The question sparked my interest, what is that being described? Now, everything seems to come together as the first light, "morning's first beam," reaches this place and hits the star spangled banner. With the imagery words, I can experience everything happening, which is why I like this particular quote.

"And this be our motto- 'In God is our trust,'"

Examining this song today, this line does not seem to fit. The song mostly conjures images of war, patriotism, and unity. Oddly, in the last lines of the song God is mentioned. The line only appears out of place because of a war that exists today in our own society of whether or not God should be allowed in our schools, on our money, and in the government. Contrary, at the time this song was written, God was part of patriotism and celebrated. This quote demonstrates how society has changed in time and how our nation continues to divide.

I really did not pay that much attention to Francis Scott Ksy until the first time that I crossed the Francis Scott Key bridge in Baltimore. It seemed much more important then as I was thinking about the National Anthem becomming known in 1931. It gave alot of meaning to the bridge and the song as I had time to think about it.

"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!..."
I foudn the entire last stanza to be very meaningful. Our national anthem as we all know it is very meaningful to us, but I found the lines in this last stanza just as powerful. Although they may not fit smoothly into a song as the first stanza has, the meaning behind these last few lines is still very strong. It describes freedom for every man and the strength of our nation. Although I noticed some looked negatively upon the line "And conquor we must, when our cause is just," I believe it was written applying to the current war that Key was witnessing.

"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!"

What I really like about this poem is the passion behind it. It was written in a time of such patriotism and desolation that each word choice subjects a different feeling from the reader. Words like freemen, and peace make me think of all the men that died for our country so we could experience those very words. It's amazing how powerful and inspiring one word can really be.

So I've got two stand out quotes for this one. "And this be our motto - 'In God is our trust," and "Praise the power that hath made and preserv'd us a nation!" With both of these quotes the main point that I see is, we should always trust in God and praise him for the good things that he has given to our country. At the time of this poem, being faithful to God and your country were high on everyone's list; now however, that is not the case, and it is very sad to see how far we have fallen. This poem is so powerful, and is very thankful through out, I feel that in today's society we have taken all of these things for granted and now have become less patriotic and want to take God out of everything. I think this country really needs to take a step back from getting everything handed to us and realize that we could be a poor country, but God has blessED the USA. (okay enough ranting chels!)

"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 start spangled banner, O! long may it wave, O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave." I liked this quote because I could visualize the joy and triumph felt when the flag came through and conquered enemies and negativity. I think this quote shows the happiness felt when the flag was show. This quote can also relate with someone who has determination and is slowly conquering a difficult battle. They're trying to be seen, and they won't stop until they are seen. This quote just radiates joy and pride to me.

"And this be our motto- "In God we trust"
I like seeing this because it seems like now days everybody argues over whether it is fair to put God in anything because we have so many different religions that are followed in America. I think that anyone should be able to interpret that into which ever God they believe in.

"O'er the Land of the free and the home of the brave?" I picked out this quote because we are at war in todays society and our soldiers are fighting for this exact quote. We have a land filled with brave men and women who have volunteered to risk their lives to keep us safe. I think sometimes people forget what others are sacrificing to keep what others fought for many many years ago.

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! we are still fighting today in a sense to "protect our nation". the u.s. is trying to protect those that live within the country by sending our young men and women over-seas to prevent anything before it happens again.

"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?"

I love the language in this part. It is filled with such strong imagery that it is not hard to picture the misty scene and feel the cool breeze Key describes so beautifully. I don't care much for all of the war and nationalist stuff.

"What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep, as it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?"

I love sentences that have contradictory (almost paradoxical) statements or words within them. With this one especially, I shows there is something more to the phrase than the words are telling. Here you think that the wind is just blowing the flag, half concealing it and half disclosing it as it ripples back and forth. But I wonder if maybe there was other meaning to it. Was something in the battle, such as the outcome, half concealed and half disclosed?

I think Kayley, Angela, Lauren, Tiffany, Ally, Ethan, Andrea, may have missed the point of

"And where is that band who so vauntingly swore,
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country, shall 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,”

Key is talking about the British here – they are the “band that vauntingly (braggingly) swore that the war would destroy our home and country.
(”A home and a country, shall leave us no more”)
“The hireling and slave” is a reference to the British practice of employing mercenaries (hirelings – those who are hired) and “slaves" refers to sailors who are
impressed into service or British Naval ships (impressing = involuntary servitude = slavery.)
After all, the British practice of boarding American vessels and seizing any sailors that they regarded as deserters or British subjects and impressing them into service was one of the causes of the War of 1812.

Thanks for that context, Mike. This assignment was a very early exercise in a class designed to introduce to the concept of literary study, and you have pointed out the importance of placing a work in its historical context.

I think in class, I may have mentioned that "slave" wasn't a reference to race, but I didn't go into any detail about the historical content.

When I introduced this text, my goal was merely to -- I just introduced some formal strategies (looking at the structure, punctuation, language) as an alternative to the "what the poem meant to me" or "here's the general point of the poem in my own words" strategies they were probably rewarded for in high school.

I think the assignment helped them to look more closely at a text that think they already know well (at least the first verse, anyway) so that they can see how literary interpretation opens a text up. Your comment usefully illustrates that part of literary interpretation also includes gathering facts in order to exclude those *potential* meanings that are not supported by the facts. (But our class hasn't gotten there yet.)