America The Beautiful

"America the Beautiful" is an American patriotic song. The lyrics were written by Katharine Lee Bates and the music 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. 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 beloved and popular of the many American patriotic songs.

Read more about America The Beautiful:  History, Lyrics, Original Poem (1893), Popular Versions, Idioms, Books

Famous quotes containing the words america and/or beautiful:

    Everywhere—all over Africa and South America ... you see these suburbs springing up. They represent the optimum of what people want. There’s a certain sort of logic leading towards these immaculate suburbs. And they’re terrifying, because they are the death of the soul.... This is the prison this planet is being turned into.
    —J.G. (James Graham)

    A great man is a new statue in every attitude and action. A beautiful woman is a picture which drives all beholders nobly mad.
    Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)