OCR Text |
Show THE RECITATION TRADITION The recitation of poetry has been a cowboy tradition as long as there have been cowboys. One can imagine evenings around the campfire, filled with lively conversation that progressed from reports about the day's events to less factual stories known as "big windies," yarns or just plain lies. Songs and the recitation of poetry were two more of the popular forms of entertainment for these early cowboys. In the notes for the 1981 Montana Folklife Project recording entitled When the Work's All Done This Fall, Korn and Rainbolt report that "Reciting cowboy poetry became popular among cowhands at the same time as Victorian 'parlor poetry' " became popular with the larger public. Many cowboys, like other nineteenth century Americans, had been taught elocution, i.e. the art of effective public speaking, in school. Elocution was customarily taught through the memorization and recitation of well-known poetic verses. Others, although they might not have had as much educational experience, were certainly aware of recitation and its entertainment qualities. It is logical, then, that cowboys would adapt this form of performance to the verse that grew from their cultural community. Many of the early cowboy poems were written in the same style as the work of such popular nineteenth century poets as Robert Service and Rudyard Kipling. In fact, many of the early reciters were familiar with Service's "northern poems." Two of his pieces, "The Cremation of Sam McGee" and "The Shooting of Dan McGrew," have become favorite recitations that are still performed today. While in some areas "cowhands [would gather] in a saloon or hotel room, making informal bets as to who could recite the most verses to a popular poem" (Korn and Rainbolt, p. 1), it seems that Utah cowboys were more likely to share their poems at holiday celebrations, old-time community dances or around the campfire. Often, a number of small ranchers would work together on a large-scale community roundup, and it was in this context that several of Utah's contemporary reciters and poetry writers first became familiar with cowboy verse. Others collected and memorized cowboy poems that were published in periodicals, newspapers and sometimes in western novels. These publications, as well as poetry anthologies, provided popular reading for both the cowboy in cow camps and for a number of youngsters growing up on ranches and farms. Today's contemporary reciters entertain a variety of audiences. with their skills in nineteenth century elocution. While some share their poems with friends at bars or on hunting and fishing trips, others are frequently asked to recite at everything from rodeos and horseclinics to family reunions, holiday celebrations, weddings and funerals. Whether reciting verse of their own composition or performing one of the cowboy classics, Utah's contemporary cowboy Cowboy Poetry From Utah 63 |