# The Star-Spangled Banner

**"The Star-Spangled Banner"** ni wimbo wa taifa wa Marekani. Maneno yake yaliandikwa mnamo 1814 na Francis Scott Key, aliyepata msukumo kutoka kwa ulinzi wa Fort McHenry wakati wa Vita vya 1812. Muziki wa wimbo huu unatokana na wimbo wa Uingereza wa karne ya 18 uitwao *"To Anacreon in Heaven."* Wimbo huu ulipitishwa rasmi kama wimbo wa taifa la Marekani mnamo Machi 3, 1931.

Wimbo wa taifa wa Marekani
## Historia

Mnamo Septemba 13-14, 1814, majeshi ya Uingereza yalishambulia Fort McHenry huko Baltimore, Maryland. Francis Scott Key, aliyekuwa kwenye meli ya Waingereza baada ya kushuhudia shambulio hilo, aliona bendera ya Marekani bado ikipepea alfajiri, ikionyesha kuwa jeshi la Marekani lilikuwa limestahimili shambulio hilo.

Akiwa na msukumo kutoka kwa tukio hilo, aliandika shairi "Defence of Fort M'Henry," ambalo baadaye liliwekwa kwenye melodi ya "To Anacreon in Heaven." Wimbo huu ulipata umaarufu haraka na hatimaye ukapitishwa rasmi kama wimbo wa taifa la Marekani mnamo 1931.

## Matumizi

Wimbo huu ulianza kutumiwa na jeshi la Marekani mwishoni mwa karne ya 19 kwa hafla za kijeshi na kitaifa. Baada ya kuidhinishwa rasmi kama wimbo wa taifa, "The Star-Spangled Banner" umekuwa sehemu muhimu ya hafla za kitaifa, ikiwa ni pamoja na matukio ya michezo, sherehe za serikali, na kumbukumbu za kihistoria.

## Maneno ya Wimbo

### Kiingereza

Aya 1

>
> O say can you see, by the dawn’s early light,
> What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming,
> Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
> O’er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
> And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
> Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there;
> O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave,
> O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
>
>
> On the shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
> Where the foe’s haughty host in dread silence reposes,
> What is that which the breeze, o’er the towering steep,
> As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
> Now it catches the gleam of the morning’s first beam,
> In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
> ’Tis the star-spangled banner! O long may it wave,
> O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
>
>
>
>
>
> And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
> That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion,
> A home and a country should leave us no more?
> Their blood has washed out their foul footstep’s pollution.
> No refuge could save the hireling and slave
> From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
> And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave,
> O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
>
>
>
>
>
> O thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
> Between their loved home and the war’s desolation.
> Blest with vict’ry and peace, may the Heaven-rescued land
> Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation!
> Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
> And this be our motto—“In God is our trust;”
> And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave,
> O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
>
>
>

### Kiswahili

(Tafsiri Isiyo Rasmi )

Ubeti wa 1:

>
> Ee, waweza kuona, kwa mwangaza wa alfajiri,
> Ile tuliyoisifu kwa fahari wakati wa machweo ya mwisho,
> Mstari wake mpana na nyota angavu katika mapambano ya hatari,
> Juu ya ngome tulizozitazama zikipepea kwa ujasiri?
> Na mwangaza mwekundu wa roketi, mabomu yakilipuka angani,
> Ulitupa uthibitisho usiku kucha kuwa bendera yetu bado ipo;
> Ee, je bendera hiyo yenye nyota bado inapepea,
> Juu ya nchi ya uhuru na makazi ya mashujaa?
>
>
> Ubeti wa 2:
> Ufukweni, unaoonekana kwa mbali kupitia ukungu mzito,
> Ambapo jeshi la adui liko kimya kikihofia,
> Nini hicho kinachopepea kwa upepo mkali,
> Kikiwajia na kuondoka, mara kikifichwa, mara kikionekana?
> Sasa kinapata mwangaza wa jua la asubuhi,
> Kwa utukufu wake kamili, kinang'aa katika maji:
> Hiyo ndiyo bendera yenye nyota! Ee, na idumu milele,
> Juu ya nchi ya uhuru na makazi ya mashujaa.
>
>
> Ubeti wa 3:
> Na wapi sasa wale waliotamba kwa majivuno,
> Kwamba vita na machafuko yangetufanya tukose makazi?
> Damu yao imefuta uchafu wa nyayo zao mbovu,
> Hakuna kimbilio kwa waajiriwa na watumwa,
> Hakuna cha kuwaokoa dhidi ya hofu ya kukimbia au giza la kaburi:
> Na bendera yenye nyota inapepea kwa ushindi,
> Juu ya nchi ya uhuru na makazi ya mashujaa.
>
>
> Ubeti wa 4:
> Na hivyo iwe daima, pale watu huru watakaposhikamana,
> Kutetea makazi yao dhidi ya maangamizi ya vita.
> Wakiwa na baraka za ushindi na amani,
> Na wamsifu Mwenyezi Mungu aliyeiweka nchi hii salama!
> Tutashinda daima, iwapo haki iko upande wetu,
> Na huu uwe msemo wetu— "Tunamwamini Mungu;"
> Na bendera yenye nyota itaendelea kupepea,
>
>
> Juu ya nchi ya uhuru na makazi ya mashujaa.
>
>

## Marejeo