A New National Anthem

In “A New National Anthem,” the speaker explores her mixed feelings about the United States through analysis of “The Star-Spangled Banner” by Francis Scott Key. She critiques the fifth line of the first stanza (“And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air”) for being too high for most people to sing, a musical critique. However, she also expresses distaste for the part of the lyrics including bombs. Her bleary repetition, “Always, always, there is war and bombs” (Line 5) goes beyond the lyrics: She is tired of the United States “always” being part of a violent conflict. She condemns the fifth line of the third stanza (“No refuge could save the hireling and slave”) for its part in a not-very-good song, but again, she goes beyond the song. Slavery is integral to any discussion of the history of the United States, and yet people don’t sing this verse very often because it is uncomfortable. The speaker expresses her anger at this hypocrisy through Imagery. We “blindly sing” (Line 15) songs about the United States that omit the history of slavery, ignoring the “brutal” (Line 14) thing so we can enjoy the game and drink “beer sloshing in the sands” (Line 16).