A Song of Kansas Land

I'll sing a song of Kansas land,
With pride I will begin it;
For Kansas is s fine old state,
And the finest folks are in it.
I'll let my voice ring out with joy;
I'll be not slow to raise it;
For Kansas is my happy home,
And I delight to praise it.

From east to west four hundred miles,
From north to south a half that,
Our glorious Kansas land is one
That no one needs to laugh at.
It goes straight down four thousand miles,
A million up^___'tis true, sir,
And the best old state it is for me,
And the best it is for you, sir.

'Tis a land of corn, but not of wine,
With milk and sorghum flowing;
Of mighty crops through flood and drought,
And playful cyclones blowing;
A state of hopes that bud and bloom,
(Though sometimes doomed to blasting);
Of forging on through calm and storm,
With purpose firm and lasting;

A state of ores and fossil things,
(With human fossils fewest ;)
Of oldest old things to be found,
And novelties the newest;
A state of coal and oil and gas,
(And just a mite of "gassing" )
A state that lofty Eastern folks
Are pretty fond of "sassing".

There's hardly any spot on earth
The sun so fondly beams on;
For when it gets to gleaming once,
It gleams and gleams and gleams on.
And few the places anywhere
That rain so likes to rain to;
For when it rains, it rains and rains,
Till there's scarce a place to drain to.

The world thinks Kansas is a freak,
Quite bent on deeds ungainly;
But maybe, now, the world's a freak,
While Kansas acts just sanely.
We'll teach this old world, something yet,
If she's not too old to learn it;
And if the world can teach us aught,
We surely will not spurn it.

I'll sing for Kansas long and loud^___
The theme is worth the singing;
I'll shout her glories to the world
In voice, full, round and ringing.
For Kansas is my happy home,
The state I love with fervor.
I'll give my voice and give myself
And all I have to serve her.

^___John Edward Everett

Quillings In Verse
John Edward Everett
(Smith Center: ^___. 1912)
Pages 53-55