A patriotic song about the U.S.A, 1895.
words by Katherine Lee Bates
music by Samuel A. Ward
This poem was inspired by a view from Pike’s Peak in Colorado. The sea-like expanse of fertile country spread away far under ample skies. The music is a hymn melody called Materna composed by Samuel A. Ward in memory of his oldest daughter. It was composed in 1882 while crossing New York Harbor after a day at Coney Island. Ward had a music store in Newark. It was originally used for “O Mother Dear, Jerusalem.”
Lyrics
- O 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! - O beautiful for pilgrim feet
Whose stern impassioned stress
A thoroughfare of freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America! God mend thine every flaw
Confirm thy soul in self-control
Thy liberty in law! - O beautiful for heroes 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 every gain divine! - O 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!
Sung here by Fred Feild: