National anthem
Page 5 of 8
Now that you know the story, here are the words. Presumably, the old doctor is speaking and this is what he asks Key:
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, through 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're the land of the free and the home of the brave?
"Ramparts" are the protective walls or other elevations that surround a fort.
The first stanza asks a question, the second gives an answer: