"The American Flag" by Jonathan E. Hoag (1920)

The American Flag.

BY J. E. HOAG.

Starry folds, whose matchless splendor

        Long hath blessed our grateful eyes;

Gleaming with a light more tender

        Than e'er shone in yonder skies!

Wave as always, in a glory

        None may tarnish or excel;

Keep upon our lips the story

        That our fathers lov'd to tell!

May your grandeur be unceasing,

        Proud reminder of the past,

As in noble rank increasing,

        Each new ray outshines the last.

Troy Times. November 16, 1920: 7 col 2.

The poem was reprinted in 1923 with some lines altered and more lines added. In the book's margin the poem was dated 1918.

To the American Flag.

Starry folds, whose matchless splendor

        Long hath blessed our grateful eyes;

Gleaming with a light more tender

        Than your rivals in the skies;

Wave as always, in a glory

        None may tarnish or excel;

Keep upon our lips the story

        That our fathers loved to tell!

May your grandeur be unceasing,

        Proud reminder of the past;

As in noble rank increasing,

        Each new ray outshines the last.

Yesterday for one young nation

        You in valor were unfurled;

But today your constellation

        Beams aloft for all the world!

Hoag, Jonathan E. The Poetical Works of Jonathan E. Hoag. NY: n.p., 1923.

Somewhat peculiarly, "To the American Flag" was attributed to H. P. Lovecraft in Arkham House's 1949 book Something About Cats and Other Pieces. For a little more about Lovecraft and Hoag, see an earlier post here, "One Flag" by Jonathan E. Hoag (1925).