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"Cowboy poetry is as old as cowboys themselves! For lack of better things to do after a hard day on the range, cowboys of the Old West would sit around the camp fire at night and entertain one another with poems, tall tales known as “windies,” or just plain good ol’ stories. " from clanotang.
Although cowboys worked all day they still found ways to amuse themselves. Since television and radio had not been invented yet and cowboys did not have room to carry books with them, common ways for cowboys to entertain themselves were singing songs around the campfire. Frequently the songs that cowboys sang first originated as poetry that the cowboys composed in their heads during the long and sometimes exceedingly tedious days of riding alongside the cattle herd. . Bear in mind that most cowboys were illiterate and could not write things down to recall later so they had to use memorization. Poetry that rhymes is easier to remember than prose so composing poetry while in the saddle made the time pass faster and could be used to entertain others. The poetry could later be matched to a melody and become a song for the cowboys to sing. Cowboy poetry, stories and songs are a form of oral literature that helped to preserve the stories of cowboys for future generations to enjoy.
The following song, "Whoopee Ti-Yi-Yo" is a form of cowboy poetry that uses western dialect as opposed to standard English. Note that the letter g is dropped from present participles and sometimes subject-verb agreement is different from what is commonly deemed acceptable.
Whoopee Ti-Yi-Yo
As I was a-walkin’ one mornin’ for pleasure,
I spied a cowpuncher a-lopin’ along.
His hat was throwed back and his spurs was a-jinglin’
And as he approached he was singin’ this song:
Chorus
Whoopee ti-yi-yo, git along little dogies,
For you know that Wyoming’ll be your new home.
Whoopee ti-yi-yo, git along little dogies,
For you know that Wyoming’ll be your new home.
It’s early in spring that we round up the dogies.
We mark them and brand them and bob off their tails.
We round up the horses, load up the chuckwagon,
And then throw the dogies up on the long trail.
Chorus
Your mother was raised away down in Texas,
Where the jimson weed and sandburs grow.
Now we’ll fill you up on prickly pear and cholla,
Till you are all ready for the trail to Idaho.
Chorus
Oh, you’ll be soup for Uncle Sam’s Injuns,
“It’s beef, heap beef!” I hear them cry.
Git along, git along, git along little dogies;
You’ll be beef steers by and by.
Chorus
Assignment:
As a class we are going to discuss what "Whoopee Ti-Yi-Yo " means.
Find an example of cowboy poetry on the internet that appeals to you. Write a paragraph or two explaining why the poem appeals to you and what you think the poet's motivation was for composing the poem. The second part of your assignment is to create your own cowboy poetry. Your cowboy poem should meet four criteria.
1. Your cowboy poem should be 12 lines (or more) in length.
2. Your poem should show what life is like from the viewpoint of a cowboy.
3. Your poem should have some kind of rhyme scheme
4. Use appropriate language. In other words, do not be crude.
You will have today's 50 minute class period to research cowboy poetry and compose your own poem. During our next class period, you will each recite your poem in front of the class.
The following sites may help you get started: