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Show uu THE SONGS WE DO NOT KNOW. How much wc all arc In need of a little memorizing, devoted to the national na-tional songs, Is well disclosed in the following poem, "Execution of the National Na-tional Anthem," which has been con-! tributed to The Standard: Oh say, can you sing, from the start to the end. v. lit bo proudly we stand for when orchestras play it; When the whole congregation, in voices that blend. Strike up ihe grand hymn, and then torture and slay It? H"v. th( . bellow, and shout, when they're first starting out. But "The dawn's early light" finds thorn floundering about. 'Tis "The Star Spangled Banner," ih y are trying to sing. But they don't know the woids of the precious old thing Hark' The "twlllght'8 last gleaming" has some cf them stopped, But ih" vullant survivors press for w ir 1 sei "nely To "the rain; arts we w.i'ched" where BOtnt oth rs are oropped And tht 1 - of the leaders is rnni- fes: iceenlv Then "th robot's red glare" gives the travest a scaio. And thie'l few let' to face the "bo'r.b bursting in air." 'Tis a thin I'ne of heroes that manage to sae Th- lasi ot the verse, and 'he 'home of I he 1 lave." i I At a chu- :h meeting. nl lorg afro, ill- eongr (alien sang "T1 star Span-pled Span-pled BainM , ' in a surprisingly well . sustained i . j er. manv in the audi- 1 enc' i tium latlng the words clearly throughout the whole anthem. It was i the firt time we had heard so many voices capable of singing the words of the song In our schools, the children are be-I be-I Ing taught to commit the words to memory, and the youngsters are becoming be-coming quite proficient. The Standard, for the benefit of its readers, reproduces "The Star Spangled Span-gled Banner," that inspiring tribute to our flag, written by Francis Scott Key while a prisoner on a British ship bombarding an American fort: i . cm vou see by the dawn's early light What so proudly we hailed in the twilight s last gleaming? Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous flcht O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly slrt-amlnt;' And the rocket's red fclar the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there; O gay, does that star-spangled banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave? On that shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep. Where i hi- foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes. What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep, As it fitfully blows, now conceals, now discloses? Now it catches the gleam of the morning's morn-ing's first bem. It's full glory reflected now shines on'the stream; 'Tis the star-spangled banner; oh, lonp may it wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave! And where is ihat band who so vaunt -incly swore That the havoc of war and the battle's bat-tle's confusion A home and a country should leave us no more? Their blood has washed out their foul fooLstcps' pollution No refuge could save the hireling and sla e From the terror of flipht, or the gloom of the gra-, And the star spangled banner in triumph tri-umph doth wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave! Oh, thus bo it ever, when freemen shall stand Between their loved homes and the , war's desolation! Blest with ictory and peace, may tho heaven-rescued land Praise the power that hath made and preserved us a nation. Then conquer we must, for our cause it is Just; And this be our motto, "In God is Our trust;" And the star-spangled banner in triumph tri-umph shall wave o'er the land of the free and the home of the brave! oo |