Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE COWBOY'S SOLILOQUY, by ALLEN MCCANLESS


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE COWBOY'S SOLILOQUY, by                    
First Line: All day o'er the prairie alone I ride
Last Line: "heard the message from heaven of ""peace and good will."
Subject(s): Cowboys


All day o'er the prairie alone I ride,
Not even a dog to run by my side;
My fire I kindle with chips gathered round,
And boil my coffee without being ground.

Bread lacking leaven' I bake in a pot,
And sleep on the ground for want of a cot;
I wash in a puddle, and wipe on a sack,
And carry my wardrobe all on my back.

My ceiling the sky, my carpet the grass,
My music the lowing of herds as they pass;
My books are the brooks, my sermons the stones,
My parson's a wolf on a pulpit of bones.

But then if my cooking ain't very complete,
Hygienists can't blame me for living to eat;
And where is the man who sleeps more profound
Than the cowboy who stretches himself on the ground.

My books teach me constancy ever to prize,
My sermon's that small things I should not despise;
And my parson's remarks from his pulpit of bone,
Is that "the Lord favors those who look out for their own."

Between love and me lies a gulf very wide,
And a luckier fellow may call her his bride;
But Cupid is always a friend to the bold
And the best of his arrows are pointed with gold.

Friends gently hint I am going to grief,
But men must make money, and women have beef;
Society bans me a savage and dodge,
And Masons would ball me out of their lodge.

If I'd hair on my chin, I might pass for the goat,
That bore all sin in ages remote;
But why this is thusly I don't understand,
For each of the patriarchs owned a big brand.

Abraham emigrated in search of a range,
When water got scarce and he wanted a change.
Isaac had cattle in charge of Esau
And Jacob run cows for his father-in-law;
He started in business clear down at bedrock,
And made quite a fortune by watering stock.

David went from night herding and using a sling
To winning a battle and being a king;
And the shepherds when watching their flocks on the hill
Heard the message from heaven of "peace and good will."






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