Patriotic pieces from the Great War/The Star Spangled Banner—with Variations

THE STAR SPANGLED BANNER—WITH VARIATIONS

I

Oh, say, can you sing from the start to the end
What so proudly you stand for when orchestras play it—
When the whole congregation, in voices that blend,
Strike up the grand hymn, and then torture and slay it?
How they bellow and shout,
When they're just starting out!—
But "the dawn's early light" finds them flound'ring about
'Tis The Star Spangled Banner they're trying to sing,—
But they don't know the words of the precious old thing.

II

Hark, "the twilight's last gleaming" has some of them stopped.
But the valiant survivors press onward serenely
To "the ramparts we watched," where some others are dropped,
And the loss of the leaders is manifest keenly.
Then "the rocket's red glare"
Gives the bravest a scare,
And there's few left to face the "bombs bursting in air"—
'Tis a thin line of heroes that manage to save
The last of the verse and "the home of the brave!"