720. O Beautiful for Spacious Skies

1 O beautiful for spacious skies,
for amber waves of grain;
for purple mountain majesties
above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed full grace on thee,
and crown thy good with servanthood
from sea to shining sea.

2 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,
till all success be nobleness,
and every gain divine.

3 O beautiful for patriot dream
that sees beyond the years
thine alabaster cities gleam,
undimmed by human tears!
America! America!
God mend thine every flaw,
confirm thy soul in self-control,
thy liberty in law.

Text Information
First Line: O beautiful for spacious skies
Title: O Beautiful for Spacious Skies
Author: Katharine Lee Bates (1893)
Meter: CMD
Language: English
Publication Date: 1995
Topic: Times and Seasons: National Songs; God's World: Times and Seasons: National Songs; Nation
Tune Information
Name: MATERNA
Composer: Samuel Augustus Ward (1882)
Meter: CMD
Key: B♭ Major



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