I won't be blogging on July 4th either, so Happy Birthday to the USA!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9W01sBHymxE&feature=related

Here are the full lyrics to a complicated, but beautiful poem:

O! say can you see by the dawn’s early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
O’er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there;
O! say does that star-spangled banner yet wave,
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

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, O! long may it wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

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?
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps’ pollution.
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.

O! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved 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 preserved us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: “In God is our trust;”
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!^[

These lyrics were added during the War Between the States:

When our land is illumined with liberty's smile,
If a foe from within strikes a blow at her glory,
Down, down with the traitor that tries to defile
The flag of the stars, and the page of her story!
By the millions unchained,
Who their birthright have gained
We will keep her bright blazon forever unstained;
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave,
While the land of the free is the home of the brave.



The

I didn't log in to my computer in Canada Day, so here's this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cm5cAXS-pcg&feature=related

This is an excellent rendition of Canada's National Anthem. Below are the official lyrics of the first verse, followed by the second, third, and fourth stanzas, by Albert D. Watson:

O Canada!
Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.
With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!
From far and wide,
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

Lord of the lands, beneath Thy bending skies,

On field and flood, where’er our banner flies,

Thy people lift their hearts to Thee,

Their grateful voices raise:

May our dominion ever be

A temple to Thy praise.

Thy will alone let all enthrone:

Refrain:

Lord of the lands, make Canada Thine own:

Lord of the lands, make Canada Thine own!

Almighty Love, by Thy mysterious power,

In wisdom guide, with faith and freedom dower;

Be ours a nation evermore

That no oppression blights,

Where justice rules from shore to shore,

From lakes to northern lights.

May love alone for wrong atone;

Refrain

Lord of the worlds, with strong eternal hand,

Hold us in honor, truth and self-command;

The loyal heart, the constant mind,

The courage to be true,

Our wide extending empire bind,

And all the earth renew.

Thy Name be known through every zone;

Refrain

These lyrics are beautiful, and speak more of a Canada that was than what it is becoming.