Original Poem (1893)
- America. A Poem for July 4.
- O beautiful for halcyon skies,
- For amber waves of grain,
- For purple mountain majesties
- Above the enameled plain!
- America! America!
- God shed His grace on thee,
- Till souls wax fair as earth and air
- And music-hearted sea!
- O beautiful for pilgrim feet
- Whose stern, impassioned stress
- A thoroughfare for freedom beat
- Across the wilderness!
- America! America!
- God shed His grace on thee
- Till paths be wrought through wilds of thought
- By pilgrim foot and knee!
- O beautiful for glory-tale
- Of liberating strife,
- When once or twice, for man's avail,
- Men lavished precious life!
- America! America!
- God shed His grace on thee
- Till selfish gain no longer stain,
- The banner of the free!
- 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
- Till nobler men keep once again
- Thy whiter jubilee!
Read more about this topic: America The Beautiful
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“Although those notes, in conformity with custom, come after the poem, the reader is advised to consult them first and then study the poem with their help, rereading them of course as he goes through its text, and perhaps after having done with the poem consulting them a third time so as to complete the picture.”
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