| Share page | Visit Us On FB |
|
200 The National Music of America.
And the star-spangled Banner in triumph
shall wave, O'er the Land of the Free, and the Home
of the Brave.
We have shown definitely that the tune of the " Star-spangled Banner " was well known to all patriotic Americans, from 1798 ; we have shown that it had become customary to write patriotic poems to the tune; we have proved that the Baltimore American, which received the poem almost immediately after its completion, stated that it was to be sung to the melody of " Anacreon in Heaven." We may add that it would be almost a miracle for a poet to write an effusion that should " accidentally " fit to the involved metre and irregular form of this melody. Yet no less a person than Chief Justice Taney, Key's brother-in-law, and a number of other careless historians, make the statement that we owe the tune of "The Star-Spangled Banner" to an actor named Ferdinand |
||