Francis Scott Key

Sung before nearly every military and sporting event, The Star Spangled Banner is nearly synonymous with the American flag. Inspired by the raising of the flag after a 25 hour siege at Fort Henry, Francis Scott Key gained near immediate notoriety as his poem “Defense of Fort M’Henry” was combined with the tune “To Anacreon in Heaven” , an already popular song of the time. Within the following years his poem would become increasingly well known and by the early 1900s, it had become our national anthem The Star Spangled Banner.

This Flag Day, we want to bring attention to the powerful words Francis Scott Key wrote while imprisoned during the siege and reflect on the freedom that our flag symbolizes.

Defence of Fort M'Henry
BY FRANCIS SCOTT KEY

O! say can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watch'd, 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?

• Let inspiration in the moment flow without feeling the need to edit. You can always cut back or reword things later.

• Find a meter that fits without feeling the need to do something specific because of historical or literary precedent.

• Try to find a tune that fits your poetry.

Poetry is a very old and very important part of artistic expression, but in recent years it has gotten a bad reputation. Some people feel like their poetry would be judged more harshly than "normal" writing, but the lost art of the verse should be tried by every writer at some point or another in their life.

Try writing your own words to a famous tune