The present, can we need to tell in rhyme
Of this, our glorious age, the present time?
To-day stands forth, unparalleled and grand,
And Kansas leads the van, in our vast land.
The heroes of the past we still revere;
Their spirits, “marching on,” are reverenced here
And as the present, teeming with its light,
Yields us its bounties, all seems glad and bright.

And in the future, glorious, grand, sublime,
None may foretell the change of coming time,
But, this we know: The band that in the past
Crowned us with peace and blessings rich and vast,
Shall guide, uphold, our mighty State alway;
And Kansas hold her rank in fame to-day.
First in our hearts, our State shall always be,
Home of the brave, the birthplace of the free.

–Laura E. Newell