Many people – myself included – bemoan the fact that the
study of our native language (English, or, more properly, American English) has degenerated mightily in past decades. Even college students cannot use grammar
properly; neither can they write coherent sentences, or even interpret standard
passages of American literature that used to be easily understood by grade
school children a half-century ago. Care to guess to what I am referring?
If you guessed the National Anthem, you are correct.
Something of a tiny storm in an even tinier teacup has been unleashed with
respect to the interpretation of this beloved poem-set-to-music. Please allow
me to elucidate.
Most adult American citizens know the first stanza of the
National Anthem; maybe half that number know the second stanza – or are even
aware that there is a second (or
third, or fourth) stanza. The words of the third
stanza of Francis Scott Key’s poem that gives us the words of our National
Anthem are as follows (the numbers to the right have been inserted by me):
And
where is that band who so vauntingly swore, 1
That
the havoc of war and the battle's confusion 2
A
home and a Country should leave us no more? 3
Their
blood has wash'd out their foul footstep's pollution. 4
No
refuge could save the hireling and slave 5
From
the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave, 6
And
the Star-Spangled Banner in triumph doth wave 7
O'er
the land of the free and the home of the brave. 8
("Star-Spangled Banner" np)
No doubt, Dear Reader, you have been “informed” by some
know-it-all English “expert” or media announcer that the National Anthem has
been “discovered” to be – horror of horrors – RACIST. This stanza actually mentions – go get your smelling salts before you faint from the shock – the word
“slave.” Now, any right-thinking liberal will immediately react strongly to
this Dreaded Word. In fact, its mere mention is enough to make even the
strongest snowflake’s knees quiver. (Did you catch the sarcasm?)
Hold on, Dear Reader! I will save you from the perplexities
of having to invent a New Anthem much more PC than the one we have! I will
demonstrate that the only color
mentioned here is red (like blood) or red, white, and blue (like the flag) –
neither instances of which demonstrate racism.
After you read my explanation, you will know that it will once again be safe to
sing this Anthem in front of Children and Diverse Groups (whew!)!
Let us begin with the simplest of English-language
structures: the Sentence. There are three
sentences in this stanza; the first one takes up lines 1 – 3 and is termed an “interrogative
sentence” (in other words, a question). [Please note the question mark at the
end of the third line if you doubt my word.] The second sentence is found in Line
4; the third one occupies Lines 5 – 8. Both of these latter sentences are “declarative”
– that is, they state a fact or opinion. And both of these latter sentences answer the first sentence – the one that
is a question.
The core of the first sentence is the subject “band” with
the verb “is” – a short succinct “Where is that band…?” The rest of the
sentence is filled with prepositional phrases and dependent clauses modifying
the subject: “The band who did this
and that and threatened us, etc.” Understand? We Americans were threatened by
the British Mother Country; they wanted to wipe us off the face of the earth.
(Gee…could anyone really mean something that horrible? Does it
ring any bells in the 21st century?)
After Francis Scott Key (the poem’s author) asks that important
question, he says in Line 4, “Well, we made them pay for their invading our
soil, with the shedding of their own blood.” A trifle warlike, but we haven’t
gotten to the really bad and offensive
part yet!
The third sentence in Lines 5 – 8 could be deemed a run-on sentence (or a comma splice), but people
in those days were used to carrying on conversations with complex thoughts
longer than three words, so let’s not be too
judgmental. Let’s find our subject and verb, shall we? Here is the first
part of the sentence put into plain 21st-century American English: “Those
suckers will either leave this land or we’ll kill ‘em.” Gosh darn! How harsh!
How uncouth, even un-charitable! Those were the bad ‘ol
days, weren’t they? [sigh]
Oh – I forgot to tell you one important thing! The “hireling”
and “slave” referred to here are the British mercenary and the dumb, stupid British
soldier who did whatever their leaders told them to do (like imprisoning Key
forcefully while the British bombarded Fort McHenry, despite him being under a
flag of diplomatic truce). Black slaves were not aboard ship, and Key was not referring to Americans (slave or
free) in this stanza. He was referring to the enemy – and he was hopping mad. He wasn’t about to call our enemies
sweet names like “misguided” or “mis-understanders.” Nope! He said they were hirelings and slaves! I guess we should resurrect Francis Scott Key so that we
can give him a lesson in Political Correctness!
OK, let’s tackle “color” in this stanza. Let’s see…there’s
the color of blood – red. And the colors of the flag – red, white, and blue.
And then…
Nope. That’s it. No black
slaves. No white supremacists. No yellow anything else…
Wait. I detect a new color;
it’s the color of hatred and confusion, inserted in the year 2017 by snowflakes
who still can’t – after college degrees and lots of coaching in English – parse
a simple English sentence and find the nouns and verbs!
Thank God that Francis Scott Key could read and understand
English. Thank God that his prayers for the safety of Fort McHenry were
answered. In fact, thank God for Key and other patriots of his day. For you
see, Dear Reader, had it not been for Key and his compatriots’ tenacity in
fighting off the British rampages, we’d be singing an anthem to a British queen
and possibly wearing wigs in a British court of law.
With Key, I repeat: This is
the “land of the free and the home of the brave” – and may the National
Anthem be used to open our collective eyes to its great truths.
Work Cited:
Key, Francis Scott. "The Star-Spangled Banner." American History.si.edu Accessed at:
Key, Francis Scott. "The Star-Spangled Banner." American History.si.edu Accessed at:
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