The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-08-14

| proportiOnately to his numbers IN the
prosperity Of the country az whole
or Of the section in which he mainly
lives
State Poems.
We don't know whether the Hon.
THEODORE F. ALLEN Of Cincinnati Is q
producer or merely an amateur and COL
lector OF American versesmiths' work.
Whichever he be, 1t Is good to behold
him as. careless of these canicular dis
comforts, careless Of that boiling Buck
eye world OF Cox and HERRIoK and
PATTIsoN and the Anti-Saloon League,
he takes his pen in hand:
"To THE EDITOR OF TEE suN-str: Permit mo
TO rise and ask what's tho matter with the Ameri-
can poets that they have not furnished US with
State poems, I enclose herewith four State 20 oms
representing Virginia, Illinois, Kentucky and
Ohio, but this leaves forty other States with
out State poems. I am aware of tho fact that tho
dor days arc not tho most conducive to energetic
action on the part OF the poets. but am hoping
that the publication OF these four State poems In
The SUN will induce tho State poets to wake up
We appreciate the honor and conf
dence which Mr.. ALLEN shows us. Stead
lily and kindly has The SUN shone on the
native bards, and so 1t will continue to
shine so long as they have foot to stand
on. But it would be against public
policy to publish four State poems in one
day, and especially in a day like this.
Too much heat would be disengaged by
the motion and clash Of those serried
lines. The best we dare do is to put a
few chunks of State verse on the ice.
First let Illinois ope her ponderous and
marble jaws:
From q wilderness of prair1es, Illinois, Illinois,
Straight thy way and never varies. Illinois. ILL.,
nois,
TIL upon thy inland sea- stands the great COM
mercial tree,
Turning all the world to thee, Illinois, Illinois
Turning all the world 10 thee, Illinois"
In it's unimproved and best estate the
Chicago River, Tiber Of the West, was
never half so fluent and liquid as this
chant. And now peak to peak answers.
Ohio takes up the wondrous tale:
Our uOmoS 1I0 oiBns VIVA = Heso ~ ~~'~
Ohio, contented Ohio.
". s..k In the syniles OF the heavens above
| No clouds ever darken Ohio
| Our grain waves as pillows Of gold in the sun.
Tho fruits Of our orchards are eaualed by mona,
Andour pumpkins. some ofthem, weigh most a ton
We challenge the world In Ohio"
Unpublished variants Of the seventh
and eighth lines read 1Our politicians
walk of with the bun; all they want is
the earth, in Ohio" And now Virginia
chimes in:
There Is nowhere land so fair
As in Virginia;
So full of song and free from care
As In Virginia.
And believe that happy land
The Lord prepared for mortal man
Is built exactly on the plan
or Old Virginia.
Nothing here or hereafter can be too
good for her. Consequently it is not
faint praise to say that this song isn't.
As to Kentucky, the case is different.
For her heaven born poet, in moment
of supreme exaltation, burst into the
immortal song whose penultimate and
| final stanzas are here affectionatsly set
down:
THE dove notes the saddest,
In Kentucky;
The streams dance on the gladdest,
In Kentucky;
Hip pockets the thickest,
Pistol hands are the quickest.
Cylinders turn the quickest
In Kentucky.
Song birds are the sweetest
In Kentucky;
Thoroughbreds arc the ncetest,
In Kentucky;
The mountains tower proudcst,
Thunder peals the loudest,
The landscape is the grandcst,
And politics the damndest,
In Kentucky"
The murmur Of dove and brook, the
song Of the birds, the quadrupedant
sound of hoofs, the barking Of the thun-
der and the guns are heard in this
grand diapason. The Blue Grass rustles
in it. The dew on the grandest land
scape is the genuine old stuff, worthy Of
the most glorious golden days Of the.
Phnnix Hotel.
Kentucky has a masterpiece. 1t Is
r..