Alexander Pope
Format: Hardcover
ISBN13: 9780631135029
Hardcover|9780631135029
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Overview
Excerpt: ...directed that the words be sung to the air, "Anacreon in Heaven," composed in England by John Stafford Smith, between 1770 and 1775. The verses were first read aloud to the assembled crowd, and then Ferdinand Durang stepped upon a chair and sang them. Key died in Baltimore, January 11, 1843. James Lick bequeathed sixty thousand dollars for a monument to his memory. This noble memorial, the work of W.W. Story, stands in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco. It is fifty-one feet high. Under a double arch is a seated figure of Key in bronze, while above all is a bronze figure of America, with an unfolded flag. As Key wrote it, the poem varies in several lines from the versions that are sung to-day. We reprint verbatim a copy written out by Key himself for James Maher, gardener of the White House. It may be worth while to preface it with certain explanations of his phraseology: He was describing an actual situation, and he appears to have addressed the lines directly to his companion, Mr. Skinner. The smoke of battle explains "the clouds of the fight." The line, "This blood has washed out his foul footsteps pollution," modified by later editors, was his answer to the boasts of a British officer, who declared before the bombardment that the fort would quickly be reduced. The change of "on" to "oer" in the common versions of the phrase "now shines on the stream" is the result of bungling editing. Key was picturing the reflection of the flag on the water. In the authors version, here given, the words that have been changed by compilers are italicized. The references by numerals indicate the variations of other editions. THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER. By FRANCIS SCOTT KEY. Oh say, can you see, by the dawns early light, What so proudly we hailed at the twilights last gleaming. Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the clouds of the fight,1 Oer the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming? And the rockets red glare
| ISBN-13 | 9780631135029 |
|---|---|
| ISBN-10 | 0631135022 |
| List Price | $29.95 |
| Format | Hardcover |
|---|---|
| Pages | 190 pages |
| Publisher | Blackwell Publishers |
| Published On | 1985-03-01 |
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