america the beautiful poem by lee bates

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"AMERICA, THE BEAUTIFUL" POEM KATHARINE LEE BATES

"AMERICA, THE BEAUTIFUL" POEM KATHARINE LEE BATES

Like “The Man Born to Farming,” Katharine Lee Bates’ “Pikes Peak” (better known as the 
song “America, the Beautiful”) evokes pastoral pride. The poem was inspired by the sights Bates 
(1859–1929) had seen on a train ride to and from Colorado Springs, especially by the vista she 
beheld from the top of Pikes Peak.

As she explained, “Near the top we had to leave the wagon and go the rest of the way on 
mules. I was very tired. But when I saw the view, I felt great joy. All the wonder of America 
seemed displayed there, with the sea-like expanse.” Bates’ poem, published on July 4, 1895, was 
eventually combined with music written by church organist and choir-master Samuel A. Ward 
(1847–1903), becoming popular around 1910.

Like the other patriotic songs, “America the Beautiful” is mostly known by its first stanza, 
which begins by celebrating America’s natural gifts and ends with a plea (or is it a prayer?) for 
brotherhood. What do the other stanzas celebrate, and what do they call for? How would you 
summarize the teaching and ideals of this poem? How does singing this song make you feel?

"AMERICA, THE BEAUTIFUL" POEM

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 impassion’d 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 prov’d
In liberating strife,
Who more than self their country loved
And mercy more than life.
America! America!
May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness
And ev’ry 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.

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