HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 29
(By Delegates Wright, By Request, and Yeager)
Declaring the poem "This Is West Virginia" by Columbus Meade the
official state poem of West Virginia.
Whereas, West Virginia does not have an official state poem;
and
Whereas, Columbus Meade, who was born on March 3, 1893, and
died on May 13, 1955, was a resident of McDowell County, West
Virginia, and a coal miner who, with his wife, raised sixteen
children during the dark and desperate times of union strife and
hardship, wrote a tribute to the State of his birth and last
resting place, an ode that captures the beauty and grandeur of
the Mountain State and serves as a wonderful tribute to the State
and its people; and
Whereas, The poem reads as follows:
"This Is West Virginia"
The land where sparkling waters flow,
And dance down to the seas,
Where brooks and rills sing to the hills
Their sweetest melodies.
The state that stretches north and south,
And to the east and west,
And stretches out both arms to God
To the north and to the east
And lifts a lovely face to Him
Whose benediction rests
On meadow, hill and valley,
Slopes and mountain crests.
Tis here God paints His handiwork,
Of pictures in the skies,
Tis here the birds sing in the trees
Their songs and lullabies.
In morning sunrise gorgeous,
Amaranth and roseate hue,
Sunsets of splendorous colors,
Of gold and red and blue.
Rich treasures flow out east and west
To bless her sister states,
The free of race and creed here find
Blessings within her gates.
The Son of God skips o'er the mounts,
And hangs an aureole,
O'er the Lordly Alleghenies,
Where storms and thunders roll.
The Blue Ridge where the skies are blue,
Along the old Dominion Line,
The foothills of the Cumberlands
With their spruce and long-leafed pine.
O West Virginia, lovely state,
Whose fuels warm the earth,
The more you give the more you have
The state of virgin birth.
Your sons have fought for Liberty,
With their starry flags unfurled
O'er each one of the seven seas
And all the known world.
The only state of forty-eight
That had a virgin birth,
The state that had within its bounds
Treasures of unknown worth.
Whereas, "This Is West Virginia" is a tribute that explains
that which is held dear and part of West Virginia's heritage;
therefore, be it
Resolved by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That "This Is West Virginia" by Columbus Meade is hereby
declared the official poem of West Virginia; and, be it
Further Resolved, That the Clerk of the House is hereby
requested to forward a copy of this resolution to the Governor.