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).

The speaker articulates her positive feelings about the United States along with her negative feelings. She compares the flag, the titular star-spangled banner, favorably to water, calling it “elemental” (Line 19). She sees it as a symbol of hope for people in need, such as people who need “sustenance” (Line 25) from the song “sung in silence” (Line 29) in difficult times. In the patriotic end of the song, the speaker lists landscapes, balancing three loving descriptions with one warning against ecological devastation: “the ageless woods, the short-grass plains, / the Red River Gorge, the fistful of land left / unpoisoned” (Lines 26-28). This list evokes lyrics from another song about the United States, “God Bless America” by Irving Berlin: “From the mountains, to the prairies / To the oceans, white with foam / God bless America, my home sweet home” (Lines 7-9).

The speaker’s criticisms and praises exist simultaneously.

The speaker of “A New National Anthem” uses a rhetorical approach, imagining a dialogue with her audience to argue for a new national anthem. First, the speaker declares her position on the issue: The current national anthem isn’t a very good song. She then sets out to persuade her audience to her side, addressing the audience directly in second person. She makes this address immediately after declaring her opinion, arguing, “if you think about it” (Line 2), the audience will agree with her. She appeals to her common ground with the audience, placing herself in the group with first person plural, using the words “us” (Line 3) and “we” (Lines 11, 15). She shares stories that demonstrate how she belongs to this group. When she sang the song in high school, she struggled with the high notes like anyone else, making the high school band play “off key” (Line 7). She implicates herself in not singing the uncomfortable third stanza: “we blindly sing” (Line 15), “hoping our team wins” (Line 17).

In an effort to be nuanced, the speaker lists things she likes too. Using “you” in the general sense, she imagines folding the flag up so “you can keep it until it’s needed” (Line 23), and “you can / love it again” (Lines 23-24). Having created a new scenario for a song, she starts to write new lyrics. She lists beautiful landscapes, including “ageless woods” (Line 26) and “the Red River Gorge” (Line 27), Defining Patriotism in her admiration. She reimagines people singing the song. Rather than being a crowd of people anxious to see their sports team be victorious, she imagines those who need to cling to a “humbled” (Line 19) flag because they need hope. The new national anthem sounds “like someone’s rough fingers weaving / into another’s” (Lines 30-31). Instead of a song about war and bombs, it’s a song about peace and togetherness. Again at the end of the poem, Limón appeals to the audience as her fellow Americans. She counts herself among the people who feel that this version of the national anthem is “our birthright” (Line 28). The new song unifies the speaker with the audience, capturing their exchange on this line: “my bones / are your bones, and your bones are my bones” (Lines 32-33). By the end of the poem, Limón has written a new national anthem with new lyrics and new meaning.

As the speaker writes her new national anthem, she demonstrates her hopes for the future of the United States. She hopes that people will appreciate the natural beauty and wonder of the country. She hopes for the country to avoid a climate disaster by holding onto land that isn’t poisoned. She hopes for the country to be unified on a basic level in the belief that “your bones” (Line 33) and “my bones” (Lines 32, 33) are the same. The poem ends in a question (“isn’t that enough?” (Line 34)), implying that only the audience can answer her question. It invites the audience into the poem one last time and asks them to make this vision of the United States into a reality.