INTRODUCTION
Katharine Lee Bates’ anthem emerged out of her travels across the country, and the inspirational music of religious composer Samuel A. Ward. Her repeated prayer that God “Crown Thy good with brotherhood” asks us to consider the role of unity, fellowship, solidarity, community, and other forms of social cohesion in our understanding of the national good. In addition, while the first and fourth verses are widely known and sung, the second and third verses raise harder and richer questions about what we consider beautiful. Especially in the context of clergy conversation and congregational gatherings, spiritual ideas about atonement resonate with Bates’ words about “mend thine every flaw.”
Themes: Brotherhood, Atonement, Natural Beauty
FULL TEXT
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!