5 July 2021
On this Fourth of July, as I watched the Macy’s fireworks display on television, I noted with mixed emotion the singing of “America the Beautiful.” I am happy they included it in the program, but I was disappointed that the choir and soloist sang only the first verse. I’m quoting the other verses here:
2) Oh Beautiful for pilgrim feet,
Whose stern impassioned stress
A thoroughfare of freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America, America!
God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law.
3) Oh 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.
4) Oh, 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.
Please note the verb forms. In the second half of each verse, the subject is “God” singular, not plural. The verb form for third person singular indicative ends in s; the verb forms here do not. This is not indicative, but subjunctive voice, in which the third person singular does not end in s. Its meaning is not a statement of fact, but an expression of hope: May God shed his grace…; may God mend thy flaw…; may God refine the gold. The third verse even includes the helper verb, “may,” indicating the subjunctive.
Significantly, Ms. Bates includes the conditions upon which God will fulfill the hopes. In the first verse, we see that God will shed his grace, will crown our good, with brotherhood. That is not inequality. In the second verse Ms. Bates writes that the condition of mending our every flaw is our exercising self-control, confirming our liberty in law. Every man, especially our elected officials at all levels, must be under law. There can be no liberty if some are beyond the law. In the third verse, we read the hope that God may refine our gold–our wealth–when our success be (may become) nobleness, when every gain may become divine. Many of our gains in the past, in Cuba, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, the US southwest, and all the Native American lands we have wrenched from their owners, can hardly qualify as “divine.”
I love the hymn, “America, the Beautiful.” It is a hymn of hope, an encouragement for all of us, especially those of us who were born part of the privileged class, to improve our lives, to learn brotherhood for all our neighbors. We can learn to become so involved in our political affairs that we insist on officials honoring, sustaining, the law. We can become so involved that we do things to even out the immense economic disparities in our society. We may even ask the candidates to political office if they will act to pass a law that every business pays its employees a living wage as minimum. We may even require that these elected officials act upon their promises. May God bless us as we strive to live up to our calling.
[Minor corrections and original date entered for posting on website, 19 July 2022, 3 Nov. 2023.]
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