![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
Cowboy Poetry: No Rest for the Horse
Apr. 3rd, 2012 04:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bookblatherWhat is cowboy poetry?
Cowboy poetry is peculiarly associated with the history of the American West. Cowboys were (and are) employed by cattle ranchers to care for the cattle, drive them to pasture, and, before the rise of the railroad, drive them north to the meat-packing industrial towns. It is hard, dusty, dirty work, and often very lonely work. A cowboy could go days without seeing anyone except two or three fellow cowboys and his horse. Outside entertainment was rare, so it became common for cowboys to gather at night and entertain each other with songs and stories.
Cowboy poetry is often very lyrical, blurring the lines between poem and song. It often has a distinct rhythm, like hands clapping, the more so the more traditional it is. It usually focuses on cowboy life, ranch work and workers, the landscape, and other related topics. It almost always is narrative in some form. The sound of it is particularly important: cowboy poetry is meant to be read aloud, or sung.
Today, I have a traditional cowboy poem to share, about a central theme of cowboy poetry and cowboy life: the horse.
( No Rest for the Horse )
To me, this poem has all the hallmarks of a cowboy poem: the distinct rhythm and song-like words, the focus on horses as central to life, a vaguely narrative format. It shows pride in horses, and pity for the ones mistreated, kindness on behalf of the speaker, and condemnation of those who mistreat horses. Even the rhythm sounds like a cantering horse, coming in sharp threes and hard beats.
Read this poem out loud: what does it sound like to you?
Cowboy poetry is peculiarly associated with the history of the American West. Cowboys were (and are) employed by cattle ranchers to care for the cattle, drive them to pasture, and, before the rise of the railroad, drive them north to the meat-packing industrial towns. It is hard, dusty, dirty work, and often very lonely work. A cowboy could go days without seeing anyone except two or three fellow cowboys and his horse. Outside entertainment was rare, so it became common for cowboys to gather at night and entertain each other with songs and stories.
Cowboy poetry is often very lyrical, blurring the lines between poem and song. It often has a distinct rhythm, like hands clapping, the more so the more traditional it is. It usually focuses on cowboy life, ranch work and workers, the landscape, and other related topics. It almost always is narrative in some form. The sound of it is particularly important: cowboy poetry is meant to be read aloud, or sung.
Today, I have a traditional cowboy poem to share, about a central theme of cowboy poetry and cowboy life: the horse.
( No Rest for the Horse )
To me, this poem has all the hallmarks of a cowboy poem: the distinct rhythm and song-like words, the focus on horses as central to life, a vaguely narrative format. It shows pride in horses, and pity for the ones mistreated, kindness on behalf of the speaker, and condemnation of those who mistreat horses. Even the rhythm sounds like a cantering horse, coming in sharp threes and hard beats.
Read this poem out loud: what does it sound like to you?
