Star-Spangled Flag (1806)

[Bapopik at AOL.COM]

Happy almost July 4th.
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A check of "star-spangled" in America's Historical Newspapers shows the
citation we expect, from September 6, 1814. The tune is "Anacreon in  Heaven."
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However, there's this--
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7 January 1806, The Post-Boy (Vermont), pg. 8:
CABINET PIECES OF POESY.
(...)
TUNE--ANACREON.
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When the warrior returns from the battle afar,
To the home and the country he has nobly defended,
Oh! warm be the welcome to gladden his ear,
And loud be the joy that his perils ended!
In the Full tide of song, let his fame roll along,
To the feast-flowing-board let us gratefully throng.
_Where mixt with the olive the laurel shall wave,_
_And form a bright wreath for the brow of the brave._
(...)
In the conflict resistless, each toil they endur'd
Till their foes shrunk dismay'd from the war's descolation;
And pale beam'd the Crescent, its splendour obscur'd
By the light of the star-spangled flag of our nation,
Where each flaming star gleam'd a meteor of war,
And the turban'd heads bow'd to the terrible glare,
_Then mixt with the olive the laurel shall wave,_
_And form a bright wreath for the brow of the brave._
(...)
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[So we have: (1) The same tune; (2) "star-spangled flag," and (3) a
recurring rhyme of wave/brave.--Barry Popik]



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