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What Is Cowboy Poetry?
Ever since there have been cowboys, they have been writin',
rhymin' and entertainin' with songs and poems about the old west. Today, cowboy
poets continue this wonderful old oral tradition that helps preserve and
promote the true heritage of ranching, farming and rodeo. Cowboy poetry comes
straight from the heart. It is an honest expression of western life as
experienced by the men and women who write it. Their poetry, usually written
in free ranging rhyming verse, is filled with honour, nostalgia and a fair
bit of wisdom.To ask what Cowboy Poetry is and why it is so popular, is like
asking the same thing about the poetry of Robert Service.
"My idea of verse writing is to write something
that an everyday workman can read and approve,
the man who, as a rule, fights shy of verse and rhyme.
I prefer to write something that comes from within
the scope of his own experiences and grips him with a sense of
reality."
Tad Tuleja, in his introduction to The Poems of Robert Service,
says that
Service's poems are developed around three themes:
1. Raw Bar Room machismo
- "the celebration of those red-blooded Real Men who, when put to the
test, will survive."
- "men who are grit to the core."
- "the staunchly working-class go-getters who can take a poke in the eye
without flinching."
2. The Wanderer
- "the eternally dissatisfied, the dreamers, the rolling stones."
3. Nature
- "that untamed and untamable wilderness to which the Real Men are drawn
and where they are found worthy or wanting."
- "the blizzards, raging rivers, extreme cold, and yet the recognition
and appreciation of the beauty of their natural surroundings."
Similarly,
cowboy poetry tells about the Real Men who are capable of taming a wild
bronc, subduing a raging bull, stopping a stampede, or trailing a herd of
cattle over a thousand miles. These men are often drifters who have had many
jobs, such as logging, farming, roughnecking, or rodeoing, but always return
to their first love - being a cowboy. No matter what the cowboy is doing, he
always has an almost religious awareness of the natural beauty surrounding
him: the moon and stars on a clear night, a coyote's lonely call, or the lengthening
shadows as a purple twilight descends.
Cowboy poetry is popular
because of its sheer simplicity. Stories are told in easy-to-understand
language. Emotion, nostalgia, pathos, and humor is delivered unwrapped and naked
for everyone to enjoy. It is story-telling at its best, wild-and-wooly,
gentle, sad, or hilarious tales presented with a mesmerizing cadence of
rhyming couplets.
Like the work of Robert Service in The Cremation Of Sam McGee or The Shooting
of Dan McGrew, cowboy poetry is considered "light verse" by the
Poetry-as-High-Art crowd. The stories are too easy to understand. Where they
would use "tremulous and diaphoretic", Service and cowboy poets
would use "shaky and sweaty". But cowboy poets don't have lofty
ambitions. Their whole intent is to tell a story that can be enjoyed by
everyone.
I would expect that the dedicated audiences at cowboy poetry gatherings also
watch Roy Rodgers, Have Gun - Will Travel, and Bonanza on TV; listen to Merl
Haggard, Willie Nelson, and Sons of the Pioneers on radio; and go to movies
like Riders of the Purple Sage, Lonesome Dove, or High Noon. They are a
select group of people who may or may not have rural roots, but do share the
love of the romance of the cowboy and life in the west.
There is no question that the ability of a poet to dramatize a poem makes all
the difference in the understanding and enjoyment by the audience. A very
good poem recited in a boring monotone leaves the audience nodding off, or
looking for another venue. Many poets are asked if they have an audio tape or
CD to accompany their book, because their delivery brings out the emotions
and nuances missed by one just reading from the text.
There is some concern that "urbanizing" cowboy poetry will cause it
to lose its intent and style. There has been a broadening of the genre to
make it more inclusive. This isn't all bad. Going beyond the traditional
cowboy-horse-bull-elements conflicts to include more about his family,
lifestyle, natural surrounding, and modern ranching techniques tends to shape
a better understanding of the western way of life now and in the past. The
gatherings of today usually have basic requirements to attempt to remain true
to the campfire storytelling of yore. The stories and dress of the poet must
be western in orientation. Although modern poets may or may not have a
"cowboy" background, if they have a true love of the western way of
life and have researched the genre, they are perfectly capable of writing
good cowboy poetry.
What do you listen for in recited cowboy poetry? Just listen to the story. If
the poet is doing his job, everything falls into place. If the rhyming words
are intrusive, you tend to miss the story and the punch line. The rhythm, or
cadence of the delivery, is more important than the rhyme
By
Rob Osberg
Past President
Alberta Cowboy Poetry
Association
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