The flag is passing by!
NOTES AND QUESTIONS
Biography. 1. Henry Holcomb Bennett (1863-⸺), an American newspaper writer, was born in Chillicothe, Ohio. He is not only a journalist, but also a magazine writer and a landscape painter. He has been a frequent contributor to the Youth’s Companion, and to the New York Independent. “The Flag Goes By” is his most popular poem.
Discussion. 1. What feeling inspires the cry “Hats off!”? 2. What does the poet mean by “more than a flag is passing”? 3. Name historical events which illustrate the different references in the third stanza. 4. Explain the meaning of “march of a strong land’s swift increase.” 5. How could the flag “ward her people from foreign wrong”? 6. How many of the things mentioned by the poet do you see when the flag goes by? 7. Do you think the poem will help you to see more?
Phrases
- [ruffle of drums, 577, 3]
- [steel-tipped, ordered lines, 577, 8]
- [strong land’s swift increase, 577, 17]
- [reverend awe, 577, 19]
THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER
FRANCIS SCOTT KEY