NATCHEZ — A poem that drew criticism years ago when lawmakers attempted to make it the state poem could soon be up for a vote again.

Sen. Bob Dearing, D-Natchez, has introduced Senate Bill 2249 to designate the poem “I Am Mississippi” the official poem of Mississippi. The poem is actually a song by country singer Paul Ott, and Dearing has tried multiple times to pass a bill to make it the state poem.

A similar bill was introduced in 2006 and received criticism from English professors and students, particularly at the University of Mississippi, where Don Allan Mitchell was a professor of English. Mitchell was an outspoken critic of the poem’s lack of literary merit and elicitation of the Old South.

Mitchell is now interim chair of the Division of Languages and Literature and an associate professor of English at Delta State University. He said 10 years later, his feelings about the poem have not changed.

“It really kind of lacks literary merit,” Mitchell said. “In a state that has produced such great authors, Richard Wright, Eudora Welty, William Faulkner … the state’s poet laureate Natasha Trethewey … it might not be the best choice for a state poem. More specifically, it’s hard to decide which work of poetry would be typical for the entire Mississippi experience. We have a poet laureate, I’m not sure if we need a state poem.”

Mitchell said his criticism of the poem is not a reflection of his feelings about Ott or Dearing, a Delta State alumnus, nor the feelings of Delta State.

“I am only speaking as a private citizen and an English professor,” he said. “Mr. Ott is a very charitable, good man, and Sen. Dearing was alumnus of the year at Delta State, and we appreciate everything he does.”

Dearing said he thinks the poem is emblematic of Mississippi.

“Paul Ott is a dear friend of mine, and I think it’s so well written and expresses so much about Mississippi,” Dearing said. “I think it would be a great state poem.”

When the bill was originally introduced, it was passed by the Mississippi House but died in committee in the Senate.

A bill designating “I Am Louisiana,” a poem similar to “I Am Mississippi,” the state “cultural poem” of Louisiana passed in 2006.

Approximately nine states have official state poems, including Florida, Tennessee, North Carolina and Kentucky.

Ott gave the song “I Am Mississippi” to the state as a fundraiser for the $45 million Mississippi Arts and Entertainment Center in Meridian, slated to open in 2017.

Ott said he has never quite understood why those who voiced opposition to the poem didn’t like it.

“I think they’re just missing the point,” Ott said. “It’s just about things about the South we all grew up around.”

Regardless of whether the bill passes, Ott said he does not take the criticism personally.

“Sen. Dearing has (introduced the bill) several times, and I appreciate that,” he said. “If (people) feel (negatively) about it, it’s fine with me. I don’t hold any grudges against them. I was just trying to do something good for the state of Mississippi.”