Read the three stanzas from “America the Beautiful” by Katherine Lee Bates.
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!
What is the effect of the third stanza on the overall structure of the poem?
A.
The third stanza describes the unselfishness of heroes in America.
B.
The third stanza asks for gold and financial success for every American.
C.
The third stanza builds upon the history of America—first the pilgrims in stanza 2, and now its heroes in stanza 3, continuing to ask for success and goodness.
D.
The third stanza builds upon stanza 2 by emphasizing the greatness of America, how it is now a free country, and how every citizen will reach for gold and success.