Student Patriots > Poem
Country and Flag | |
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The Pride In Our Flag |
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It was 1814 on a thundering night,
When they loaded their canons and were ready to fight;
All were aware of the British regime,
But Oh! What a view one had downstream!
There stood a man waiting anxiously:
A lawyer from the district known as Francis Scott Key.
Unaware of the outcome of Baltimore,
Would the fort be captured as he watched from the shore?
He looked on through twilight in late night hours
With hope, but yet fear for England's vast powers.
The signal of victory seemed to be gone,
Until that one moment at the first sight of dawn.
As the guns stopped their firing while the smoke had been
cleared,
Key gazed through the sunlight as that flag soon appeared.
Then suddenly, there arose a vibration;
On with Old Glory and on with our Nation!
He gave out a yell ,and friends close by shouted,
Till Francis sat down as he looked so astounded.
He pulled out a letter and started to write
On the back of the paper of this wonderful site.
Key wrote of the sounds of the fierce battle-cry
And those beautiful stars in the visible sky.
He wrote of the bursting of bombs in the air
While he thanked the dear Lord for his country in prayer.
And when his writing was starting to close,
He grinned with a sigh of relief, but then froze.
For this was a glorious day of September,
A day he knew thousands would always remember.
This astonishing lawyer could not help but brag
Of the one we now pledge to: that one same old flag.
The one that waves freely at the top of our pole:
Our flag of freedom fought hard by poor souls.
The flag of the nation with eyes toward the cross,
The flag that was sewn by Miss Betsy Ross.
That same old flag we still hang in the air
Was the flag flown up high across the Delaware.
It's tattered beauty that was shown through our wars
Has carried a legacy from land unto shores.
Such pride Old Glory has to display!
But what does our flag truly mean today?
As the singing of our anthem loudly rings,
Some seem to be too occupied with many other things.
More importantly, they think whispering to a friend,
While another stands impatiently just hoping it will end.
Someone else around lets out a loud yawn.
Where has our pride in our country's flag gone?
The banner that was trampled on during a world war
Is just a banner in the air we seem now to ignore.
But if we had been present on this historic night,
Our view would be much different when Scott Key chose to
write
About our Fort McHenry that we fought hard to save,
About our nation's freedom and the home of the brave,
About the rockets rumbling and their radiant red glare,
About the fear of unknown outcome filled with deep despair,
About the view of ramparts set up for their protection,
About the brightening spirit of our flag's resurrection.
At dawn a sign of victory was shown up in that sky
As Key wrote of Old Glory waving there up high.
Francis stopped his writing and slowly raised his head;
While others sought the words he penned, Key looked at them
and said,
"I've watched this hard-fought battle in fear of a fierce
warning,
But because we've prevailed, this is a glorious morning.
Remember now this outcome and the joy it all has shown,
Because of that great beauty of our flag that has been
flown.
After his words were spoken, they took the document
And road on horseback through the town demanding to be
print.
Americans fell in love with these words that they all read,
Which many of them took to heart . . . and it became
widespread.
Scott Key later titled this in a different manner,
But now we all know it as "The Star Spangled Banner."
The banner waves above in our country's sky today,
And the stunning beauty of this flag provides such great
display.
These stars and stripes of glory are marvelous, you see.
If we all saw how blessed we are, I'm sure we would agree;
The flag still stands for freedom and we owe it our respect
Because of what it symbolizes and how it does affect.
�Cuz when we see our soldiers standing at attention,
We know that there's a love beyond our comprehension.
A love so affectionate that others may ask why,
Until one U.S. soldier shouts "It's there for you and I!"
The blue is there to show us the honor to this land
And the justice we provide on the law by which we stand.
The shedding of the blood from the patriots who had died
Represents the red in the stripes run side to side.
Our foundations were all built on the purity of white,
And the United States of America should proudly shine their
light
Of the love we must show and can not help but brag;
Because we gladly share the pride in our old flag. | By
Michael Meade
12th Grade
Copyright 2008
Listed
January 6. 2009 |
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