The Corral, Volume [21], Number [3], March, 1931 Page: 2
28 p. ; 25 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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VOICE OF THE EDITOR
TEXAS has long been a dominant figure in the
history of the world. She has earned her lau-
rels among her sister nations who have dared to
take up arms for the Independence which is so
dear to them. She has stamped herself indelibly
on the pages of history. What man in any land
does not thrill at the story of bravery in the Alamo?
Who does not know our heroes who were present
at the birth throes of a valiant republic?
Commercially, Texas had made a name for her-
self in the world. Texas cotton has made its way
into many ports, and peasants blouse and the no-
bles coat both testify to its excellence. Texas cat-
tle, the descendants of the Longhorns, feed count-
less millions the world over. Minerals from the
Lone Star State are eagerly sought.
Now Texas is coming into her own as a figure
in literature. Ask a man a quarter of a century
ago if there was anything being written in Texas,
and he would have answered: "Only a funeral dirge
written with bullets in an outlaw's skin." Noth-
ing good could come out of Texas. This was a
lawless land inhabited by bold, bad men and too
rough for the gentler art of letters. But the West
had a soul. Men loved, and men sang, even if they
did not set their songs down in lasting form. There
was a body of folk lore which had come down fromthe Indian, from the early church, and the Con-
quistadors. Texans become experts in the art of
story telling though they did not write their stories
down as novels and short stories.
Then the world began to realize that Texas was
expressing her soul. Ruth Cross wrote Golden
Cocoon and people without said, "Maybe Texas
has some normal people." Dorothy Scarborough
in her novel The Wind, gave them a glimpse of
the tragic beauty of her state and the nation looked
westward.
There came minstrels out of the West to sing to
the glory of the Lone Star State. Lexie Dean Rob-
ertson finds beauty in simple things and Grace Noll
Crowell touches the sublime.
And finally, the nation wakes up. One of the
so-called "bold bad men" of the state has written
down some of its folk lore. J. Frank Dobie in
his Coronado's Children has aroused interest in
this land of desolation. The editors of the Liter-
ary Guild have selected his book as their best book
of the month February. The nation east will no
longer continue to look to the Southwest with scorn.
Texas does have a soul! A soul that soars and
aspires; a soul that loves and sings! She is find-
ing her tongue and her song will be raised to min-
gle with the songs of the nations.SONG OF THE WEST
BY JERS
You do not know the Song of the West?
The theme of the song she sings?
You have not heard her lilting tune,
Nor how the music rings?
0! the Song of the West is a strong man's song,
There's triumph in the air!
And the Song of the West is a woman's song,
Like breezes in her hair!
And the Song of the West floats out from the West,
And the nation stops to hear
And on and on its cadence swells,
Till the music is everywhere.
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Simmons University. The Corral, Volume [21], Number [3], March, 1931, periodical, March 1931; Abilene, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth109427/m1/4/: accessed May 2, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Hardin-Simmons University Library.