Child of the Sun! to thee ’t is given
    To guard the banner of the free,
  To hover in the sulphur smoke,
  To ward away the battle-stroke,
  And bid its blendings shine afar,
  Like rainbows on the cloud of war. 
    The harbingers of victory!

  Flag of the brave! thy folds shall fly,
  The sign of hope and triumph high! 
  When speaks the signal-trumpet tone,
  And the long line comes gleaming on,
  Ere yet the life-blood; warm and wet,
  Has dimmed the glistening bayonet,
  Each soldier’s eye shall brightly turn
  To where thy sky-born glories burn,
  And, as his springing steps advance,
  Catch war and vengeance from the glance. 
  And when the cannon-mouthings loud
  Heave in wild wreaths the battle shroud,
  And gory sabres rise and fall
  Like shoots of flame on midnight’s pall,
  Then shall thy meteor glances glow,
    And cowering foes shall shrink beneath
  Each gallant arm that strikes below
    That lovely messenger of death.

  Flag of the seas! on ocean wave
  Thy stars shall glitter o’er the brave;
  When death, careering on the gale,
  Sweeps darkly round the bellied sail,
  And frighted waves rush wildly back
  Before the broadside’s reeling rack,
  Each dying wanderer of the sea
  Shall look at once to heaven and thee,
  And smile to see thy splendors fly
  In triumph o’er his closing eye.

  Flag of the free heart’s hope and home,
    By angel hands to valor given,
  Thy stars have lit the welkin dome,
    And all thy hues were born in heaven. 
  Forever float that standard sheet! 
    Where breathes the foe but falls before us
  With Freedom’s soil beneath our feet,
    And Freedom’s banner streaming o’er us?

This is a poem that may need a little explanation if every one is to appreciate it.

How fancifully the poet tells of the origin of the flag in the first stanza!  The blue field and the stars are taken from the sky, and the white from the milky way which stretches like a broad scarf or baldric across the heavens.  The red is from the first red streaks that in the morning flash across the eastern skies to herald the rising sun.  The eagle, our national bird who supports the shield in our coat of arms, had by the old legends the power to fly full in the face of the sun, and to shield its eyes from the blaze was gifted with a third eyelid.  In the talons of this lordly bird Freedom placed our chosen banner.

The second stanza continues the tribute to the eagle.  To this regal bird it is given to fling high among the clouds and smoke of battle our brilliant banner, whose bright colors like the rainbow signify victory and peace—­the flag of victory, the bow of promise.

The remainder of the lines are so clear in their meaning and so smooth in their structure that they stir our blood with patriotic fire.