O Beautiful for Spacious Skies

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 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 mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self control,
Thy liberty in law.

Author: Katharine Lee Bates

Year: 1895

Katharine Lee Bates wrote the lyrics in 1893 after a trip to the summit of Pikes Peak; the poem was first published in 1895. The text is occasionally misattributed, but Bates is the universally accepted author.