our flag was still there

It's a somber day in this country, and especially so in this city; the cold, wet rain falling outside is certainly not helping to lift the mood. I turned on the news this morning in time to watch the very beginning of the remembrance ceremony at Ground Zero. First the scarred American flag from the World Trade Center was marched out to the beat of a bagpipe-and-drum line. While it was reverently displayed at center stage, the Brooklyn Youth Chorus sang a beautiful rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner.

Have you ever paid attention to the lyrics of our national anthem? I'm assuming that most of you know a bit of the history associated with it which inspired Francis Scott Key to pen this important poem, but in case you missed that lecture in your high school history class, here's a brief snippet from Wikipedia to bring you up to date:

"The lyrics [of the "Star-Spangled Banner"] come from "Defence of Fort McHenry," a poem written in 1814 by the 35-year-old amateur poet Francis Scott Key after witnessing the bombardment of Fort McHenry by Royal Navy ships in Chesapeake Bay during the Battle of Baltimore in the War of 1812."

The morning after the bombardment, Key saw that the American flag, though torn and tattered from the long night of fighting, had been raised in triumph over the fort, signifying a victory for his young country, and inspiring him to scribble his thoughts on the back of a letter he had in his pocket:

Oh, 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 thru the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O're the land of the free and the home of the brave?

(For a slightly more detailed history, see here.)

As I listened to the choir sing the anthem and watched the battered World Trade Center flag flutter in the chilly breeze, I was struck by not only the relevance of "The Star-Spangled Banner" as our national anthem, but by how fitting it was that it was sung at this morning's ceremony.

And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O're the land of the free and the home of the brave?

Our flag was still there nearly 200 years ago, it was still there eight years ago, and it's still here today.