America the Beautiful

[B. Royce 0]

Here is a re-write of the first four stanzas of Katherine Lee Bates 1913 poem.

America the Beautiful

O beautiful for factories

And amber waves of grain,

For silver-towered majesties

Above the fruited plain!

America! America!

Man grace the ground of thee

And crown his sense with competence

From sea to shining sea!

O beautiful for men not blind,

Whose stern impassioned thought

A thoroughfare for freedom signed

And through each forest wrought!

America! America!

May reason clear out flaws,

Confirm thy soul in self-control,

Thy rights of man in laws!

O beautiful for heroes proved in liberating strife.

Who filled with self their country loved

And justice more than life!

America! America!

May gold thy soul refine

Till all success be nobleness

And every man divine!

O beautiful for patriot dream

That sees beyond the years

Thy lightning-powered cities gleam

In pride beyond all fears!

America! America!

May each man worthy be

With shake of hand his word to stand

From sea to shining sea!

_______________________________________

Brian Faulkner