O beautiful for spacious skies, <br /> For amber waves of grain, <br /> For purple mountain majesties <br /> Above the fruited plain! <br /> America! America! <br /> God shed His grace on thee <br /> And crown thy good with brotherhood <br /> From sea to shining sea! <br /> <br /> O beautiful for pilgrim feet, <br /> Whose stern, impassioned stress <br /> A thoroughfare for freedom beat <br /> Across the wilderness! <br /> America! America! <br /> God mend thine every flaw, <br /> Confirm thy soul in self-control, <br /> Thy liberty in law! <br /> <br /> O beautiful for heroes proved <br /> In liberating strife, <br /> Who more than self their country loved, <br /> And mercy more than life! <br /> America! America! <br /> May God thy gold refine, <br /> Till all success be nobleness, <br /> And every gain divine! <br /> <br /> O beautiful for patriot dream <br /> That sees beyond the years <br /> Thine alabaster cities gleam <br /> Undimmed by human tears! <br /> America! America! <br /> God shed His grace on thee <br /> And crown thy good with brotherhood <br /> From sea to shining sea!<br /><br />Katharine Lee Bates<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/america-the-beautiful/
