By Mark DursinSpecial to The Hartford Courant Ah, Independence Day -- when we celebrate this great nation of ours, with a little help from fireworks, ground beef and one-hit-wonder poets. And just what are one-hit-wonder poets? They're those unique artists who gained mainstream popularity thanks to a single work. Will anyone confuse these poets with Shakespeare, Frost or Dickinson? Probably not. Nevertheless, America has produced some of the world's most notable one-hit wonders, folks like Ernest Thayer, who hit a home run with 'Casey at the Bat' (1888); Gelett Burgess, who gained immortality through his insipid-yet-endearing 'Purple Cow' (1895); and Wyn Cooper, who still earns actual money -- virtually unheard of for a poet -- from his 1987 poem 'Fun,' the basis for Sheryl Crow's Grammy-winning 'All I Wanna Do.' But arguably the three greatest American one-hit wonder poets of all time wrote not about failed sluggers or violet bovines but about America. Here they are, in order of their defining compositions: Francis Scott Key (1779-1843): You know the story: It's 1814, and we're fighting the Brits again. Key, a lawyer negotiating the release of an American prisoner, witnesses the shelling of Baltimore's Fort McHenry. Waking the next morning to find 'our flag was still there,' Key wrote a little poem called 'The Defense of Fort McHenry' -- better known as 'The Star-Spangled Banner.' Almost 120 years later, in 1931, Congress made it our national anthem. Emma Lazarus (1849-1887): You may not immediately recognize the name, but you definitely know the words: 'Give me your tired, your poor/ Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free ...' That's right: The lines associated with the Statue of Liberty are excerpted from Lazarus' sonnet 'The New Colossus.' A Jewish poet from New York, Lazarus wrote her poem in 1883. Twenty years later, in 1903, the poem was inscribed on the Statue of Liberty's pedestal. (Unfortunately, Lazarus died in 1887, never knowing the effect her words would have on a nation.) Katharine Lee Bates (1859-1929): A Wellesley College professor, Bates traveled to Colorado in 1893 to teach a summer school class. During the visit, she climbed to the top of Pikes Peak. The view inspired her to compose four stanzas of her poem, 'America the Beautiful.' (The music came two years later.) Now, which of these ranks as the greatest one-hit wonder poet? Tough to say. Based on airplay alone, I'd probably have to give the edge to Francis Scott Key. But Katherine Lee Bates comes in a very close second. Not only does 'America the Beautiful' routinely win the popular vote over 'The Star-Spangled Banner,' but Bates might be the only one-hit wonder poet who has inspired a Crayola crayon -- Purple Mountain's Majesty, which debuted in 1993. No, a crayon's not as impressive as a national anthem, but it's a pretty cool consolation prize, all things considered. So, this Fourth of July weekend, take some time to remember our great one-hit wonder poets, not just because they celebrate America, but because they also, in a very real way, represent America. These artists became famous for just one poem. They get maximum achievement for minimal output. And what can be more American than that? Mark Dursin of Marlborough, Conn., teaches at Glastonbury High School. Distributed by the Los Angeles Times-Washington Post News Service End adv sun jul 5 