Francis Scott Key: Collected Lyrics
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Public-domain lyrics

O Say Can You See

Francis Scott Key

“O Say Can You See” as printed in The Army and Navy Hymnal (1920).

Francis Scott Key: Collected Lyrics Text 2 1920 · historical text
Public domainHymnSacred song
Complete public-domain lyrics

This text comes from The Army and Navy Hymnal, a historical songbook transcribed on Wikisource and reproduced from the pinned revision linked below.

Verse 1

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, thro' 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 thro' the night that our flag was still there.

Oh, 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! Oh long may it wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Oh! thus be it ever when freemen shall stand

Between their loved home and the war's desolation;

Blest with victory 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!

Credits

Written by Francis Scott Key

Words by Francis Scott Key. Historical text published in The Army and Navy Hymnal (1920); public domain. No claim to a modern recording or arrangement.

Source & text edition

The Army and Navy Hymnal (1920), “O Say Can You See”

The 1920 published edition is in the public domain in the United States (pre-1931 publication). Entries whose credited author died more than 70 years ago are also in the public domain in life-plus-70 jurisdictions; traditional and anonymous entries are public domain. Pages whose scan quality is below the proofread threshold are held for review.

How to read this historical text and its source

Read the source on Wikisource

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Retrieved 2026-10-26. Line spacing and section labels are adapted for reading. The displayed text follows the linked edition. Editorial notes and abstract artwork are by 52lyrics.
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