Songs of the Cattle Trail and Cow Camp · Chapter
Love Lyrics of a Cowboy explained
A cowboy expresses his deep, almost reverent love for a woman, describing how she has transformed his world and made the bunkhouse and his old life feel coarse and empty.
What happens
A cowboy expresses his deep, almost reverent love for a woman, describing how she has transformed his world and made the bunkhouse and his old life feel coarse and empty. He speaks of her calling him 'dear,' his careful grooming before visits, and the dreamlike quality of their time together under the red moon, ending with his reluctance to leave when she tells him it's nearly midnight.
Themes in this chapter
Love and Romance
The entire poem is a declaration of love, portraying the beloved as a transformative, almost holy figure and the time spent with her as a dreamlike paradise.
Solitude and Reflection
The narrator reflects alone on his feelings, noting how the bunkhouse and his old companions now seem coarse, and he finds solace in his private thoughts of her.
Characters to notice
- Unknown Narrator
The cowboy narrator who is deeply in love and reflects on his feelings and changed perspective.
- Susie
The beloved woman who has 'run her brand' on the narrator's heart and calls him 'dear.'
Key passages
“It hain’t no use fer me to say There’s others with a style an’ way That beats hers to a fare-you-well, Fer, on the square, I’m here to tell I jes can’t even start to see But what she’s perfect as kin be.”
It's useless for me to claim that other women surpass her in style or manner, because honestly, I can't see her as anything less than perfect.
The narrator insists on his beloved's perfection and dismisses any comparison.
“She called me “dear,” an’ do you know, My heart jes skipped a beat, an’ though I’m hard to feaze, I’m free to yip My reason nearly lost its grip.”
When she called me 'dear,' my heart skipped a beat, and even though I'm usually unflappable, I admit I nearly lost my composure.
The simple endearment 'dear' has a powerful emotional effect on the tough cowboy.
“The old range sleeps, there hain’t a stir. Less it’s a night-hawk’s sudden whir, Or cottonwoods a-whisperin while The red moon smiles a lovin’ smile.”
The range is quiet and still, except for the sudden sound of a night hawk or the whispering cottonwoods, while the red moon seems to smile lovingly.
The setting is peaceful and romantic, with nature reflecting the narrator's mood.
“Fool talk, perhaps, but it jes seems We’re ridin’ through a range o’ dreams; Where medder larks the year round sing, An’ it’s jes one eternal spring.”
It might sound foolish, but it feels like we're riding through a dreamland where meadowlarks sing all year and it's always spring.
The narrator describes his time with her as an idyllic, timeless dream.