UP WITH the banner of the free! Its stars and stripes unfurled! And let the battle beauty blaze Above a startled world. No more around its towering staff The folds shall twine again, Till falls beneath its righteous wrath The gonfalon of Spain. That flag with constellated stars Shines ever in the van! And like the rainbow in the storm, Presages peace to man. For still amid the cannon's roar It sanctifies the fight, And flames along the battle lines, The emblem of the Right. It seeks no conquest, knows no fear; Cares not for pomp or state; As pliant as the atmosphere, As resolute as Fate. Where'er it floats, on land or sea, No stain its honor mars, And Freedom smiles, her fate secure, Beneath its steadfast stars. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...FRA LIPPO LIPPI by ROBERT BROWNING THE MARTYRS OF THE MAINE by RUPERT HUGHES TO THE DRIVING CLOUD by HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW SPOON RIVER ANTHOLOGY: PETIT THE POET by EDGAR LEE MASTERS A CLEAR MIDNIGHT by WALT WHITMAN THE FEILIRE OF ADAMNAN by ADAMNAN |