Quote:
Originally Posted by Choro&Swing
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.
The first three lines asks what has happened to the British army that boasted the war would take away our home and country. In line four the answer is found: our soil was polluted by their foul footsteps, but that pollution has been washed out by their blood. “Hireling and slave” in line five refers to the British troops: mercenaries (hirelings) and drafted or “impressed” poor men (though they weren’t actually slaves, they were forced to serve against their will after being essentially kidnapped).
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Most readers of Key's work don't agree with your assessment of the meaning of the word slave which you suggest is a substitute for impressed poor men. Key had a good command of language and the word means what it means. Knowing history helps. During the war of 1812 the British offered freedom to any escaped slave who would fight with the British side against the Americans. They were not paid a salary which would have made them hirelings. Instead they were in fact escaped slaves, just like Key wrote. And Key makes the point that escaped slaves will not escape the grave. The British did not have a mercenary force in the war of 1812 unless you include the Native American tribes which fought on their side. Key uses hirelings as an insult to the British soldier suggesting he is only doing his job for money not out of British patriotism. Note that Key never mentions the blood of the British soldier separately.