O! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand..

There's not much I can add to this. Go here and here to understand why this post appears.

O! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved homes 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!

I wonder what the effect of meeting at Tea Parties and other gatherings in the upcoming months -- and years -- and singing both verses of the Star Spangled Banner as both an additional homage to this nation of ours and a re-commitment to the values and principles that have made it and will make it endure?

Of course, my grasp of history fades as I age. There are four verses to Key's beautiful poem: