Blogger: Janet Kobobel Grant
To commemorate our country’s Independence Day, I’m pondering the words of “America the Beautiful.” I haven’t given the lyrics much thought for a long time so, on re-reading them, I was struck anew by what a heartfelt prayer it is for the United States as well as a paean to its lush beauty.
I did a bit of research and found that the lyrics were first written as a poem by Katharine Lee Bates in 1893, after she had traveled by train from Massachusetts to Colorado. Visiting Colorado Springs, she climbed Pikes Peak, and the words came to her in an inspired rush.
The song, with music originally intended to be for a hymn, first was published in the Fourth of July edition of The Congregationalist.
Here is the 1911 version of the lyrics. If you want to read the original words, you can find them here.
America the Beautiful
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, impassioned stress
A thoroughfare for 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 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!
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!
If you’re so inclined, please join me in praying for America to persistently display the qualities ascribed to it in the song.
Happy July 4 to each of you.
What beautiful lyrics! I never knew what “purple mountain majesty” meant until I moved to a mountainous region of the nation. When the sun hits the mountains just right, they are truly purple. This was quite a discovery for this Chicago boy.
“O beautiful for heroes proved / In liberating strife…” So powerful to remember those heroes and the price they paid for our freedoms.
We are truly blessed. Thank you for this meaningful start to our Independence Day weekend.
God bless America.
America, bless God.
Thanks, Bill. There’s so much more to today than picnics, barbecues and parades, isn’t there?
We have much to celebrate and give thanks for.
In echoing Bill’s comment above, I’d like to add this –
* Please remember the contractors and paramilitaries who went where policy dared not go. They fought for poor recompense, no benefits, and the honour of plausible deniability to get decision-makers off the hook.
* They fought their hearts out for a country they loved, and many of these my brothers claim a piece of ground in a foreign land that will be forever America.
* Housman wrote their epitaph, and their glory.
—-
These, in the day that Heaven was falling,
the hour when Earth’s foundations fled,
followed their mercenary calling
and took their wages and are dead.
–
Their shoulders held the sky suspended,
they stood, and Earth’s foundations stay.
What God abandoned, these defended
and saved the sum of things for pay.
Thanks for sharing Housman’s poem. I realize you know the truth of it much more than the rest of it.
From the original:
“Till selfish gain no longer stain
The banner of the free!”
Lord God, may our nation be a reflection of your grace. May we love as you do, freely and unselfishly. Amen.
I was startled by the concern over “selfish gain” in the lyrics. But, certainly, it doesn’t do our nation any good, does it?
May God put men and women in place who will preserve and defend the principles of freedom, liberty, and justice for which many have already died. Thanks for sharing this, Janet.
So true, and a part of our praying that’s imperative as we face fall elections.
Amen.
Amen.
I live on the backside of America’s Mountain and have been to the top. It is, indeed, a magnificent, inspirational reminder of God’s bounty and grace.
Pikes Peak is glorious!
Happy Birthday America!!?
*I also recently read an article about Katharine Lee Bates. She awoke in the middle of the night with the words to this song in her head and immediately got up to write them down. God is amazing and so is our country.
These are the lines that caught my attention:
America! America!
God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law!
Thank you, my country, for our history of often getting it right because of righteous laws.
So true. It’s easy to think about the flawed decisions, but the desire to be righteous remains strong.
Thank you for sharing this song and the history behind it, Janet. I’m joining you in praying for our nation today. Happy 4th!
Amen.
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