Oh, beautiful, for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with
brotherhood,
from sea to shining sea.
Oh, beautiful, for pilgrim feet
Whose stern, impassioned stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America!
God mend thine ev'ry flaw;
Confirm thy soul in self control,
thy liberty in law!
Oh, beautiful, for héroes proved
In liberating strife,
Who more than self their country
loved
And mercy more than life!
America! America!
May God thy gold refine,
Til all success be nobleness,
and ev'ry gain divine!
Oh, beautiful, for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years,
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with
brotherhood,
from sea to shining sea![1]
[1]
America the Beautiful is an American patriotic song. The lyrics were
written by Katharine Lee Bates, and the music was composed by church organist
and choirmaster Samuel A. Ward. Bates originally wrote the words as a poem,
Pikes Peak, first published in the Fourth of July edition of the church
periodical The Congregationalist in 1895. At that time, the poem was titled
America for publication. Ward had originally written the music, Materna, for
the hymn O Mother dear, Jerusalem in 1882, though it was not first published
until 1892.[1] Ward's music combined with the Bates poem was first published in
1910 and titled America the Beautiful. The song is one of the most popular of
the many American patriotic songs.
