Earlier I posted a discourse on a passage of poetry chosen by that great orator, Robert C. Byrd, Senator of West Virginia.
But we shouldn't ignore the Great Senator's own contributions to the literature of this country.
I have taken the liberty of setting some of his choicer pieces as verse. It helps their impact in ways the mere prose renditions do not.
Submitted in the interests of literature, a piece from 2001 and two earlier works from 1946:
********************
I'm going to use that word
There are white n----rs.
I've seen a lot of white n----rs
in my time.
I'm going to use that word.
But we all —
we all —
we just need to work
together
to make
our country a better country,
and I —
I'd just as soon quit
talking about it
so much.
********************
Rebirth
The Klan is needed
today
as never before
and I am anxious to see
its rebirth here
in West Virginia.
It is necessary that
the order be
promoted
immediately and
in
every state
of the Union.
********************
Rather would I die
[I will] never submit
to fight
beneath
that banner
with a Negro by my side.
Rather would I die
a thousand times,
and see Old Glory
trampled
in
the dirt
never to rise
again,
than to see this beloved land of ours
become degraded
by race
mongrels,
a throwback to
the blackest
specimen from
the wilds.