The Big Roundup: Classic and Contemporary Poetry from CowboyPoetry.com [Paperback]

Margo Metegrano (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0971255032 | ISBN-13: 978-0971255036 | Publication Date: October 1, 2001

Winner of the Will Rogers Medallion Award and the Academy of Western Artists' Buck Ramsey Best Cowboy Poetry Book Award, "The Big Roundup" is an anthology of the best Classic and Contemporary poetry from CowboyPoetry.com — the world's largest collection of Cowboy Poetry – featuring over 140 American, Canadian, English and Australian poets. A "Best of the West" appendix includes Cowboy Poetry gatherings and organizations, Western publications, and Western heritage and museum sites.

From its start on the range to its newest home on the internet, Cowboy Poetry celebrates three centuries as a genuine American folk form in "The Big Roundup."

In his foreword, Tom Mayo, poetry reviewer for the "Dallas Morning News" says "These selections illustrate and celebrate the diverse, vibrant state of Cowboy Poetry. That they were gathered in a most modern "virtual gathering" on the Internet [CowboyPoetry.com] is proof of the enduring popularity and relevance of the genre in this new millennium."

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...a wonderful addition to our cowboy poetry collection..." -- Randy Williams, Curator, Fife Folklore Archives

"An entertaining and heartwarming collection of modern and classic Cowboy Poetry. A wonderful treasury, including many of my favorites." -- Don Edwards, America's favorite Cowboy singer

"From the classics to contemporary, Cowboy Poetry is alive and represented well in "The Big Roundup"..." -- Chris Isaacs, the Cowboy's Cowboy humorist and poet

"The Big Roundup is a fine collection of cowboy poetry -- old and new." -- The Honorable Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor

"There's something for everyone and about everyone in this anthology..." -- Western Horseman Magazine

From the Publisher

This anthology is from CowboyPoetry.com and New West Library.

In this century, cowboy and western poetry continues to thrive. Cowboy Poetry is an official part of the Salt Lake Olympics folklife activities and the next annual Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, Nevada is expected to attract 10,000 fans.

Complementing the classic selections, the contemporary poems honor the past and reflect the life of the cowboys and ranchers of today. The majority of modern contributors in "The Big Roundup" come from the West, but states from sea to shining sea are represented, along with classic and contemporary cowboy poetry from Canada, Australia, and England.

These modern poets include ranchers, working cowboys, and other writers with the West in their hearts. Selections in "The Big Roundup" reflect the face of the American West and beyond: Popular entertainer and Texas rancher Red Steagall writes about his love of the land; 12-year old Arizonan Jesus Cervantes, immigrant descendant of a proud Mexican vaquero family who excels in school while also working in the fields and as a dishwasher, honors the silver screen cowboy; Australian Jack Sammon writes about his droving days; Utah rancher and teacher Jo Lynne Kirkwood describes the ranching seasons; and octogenarian Flavis Bertrand writes about his family's South Dakota homesteading days.

The poems in "The Big Roundup" were chosen from CowboyPoetry.com, an ongoing gathering that includes classic and contemporary poetry; the Cowboy Memories oral history project; features about Western life, a popular schedule of Cowboy Poetry events; the best in books and music; the Lariat Laureate competition, and a free email newsletter.

Among its honors, CowboyPoetry.com has been featured by "Parade Magazine," "USA Today" ("Fresh and fine, like a fast getaway"), National Public Radio, "Yahoo! Internet Life," "Family PC," and recognized as Editors' Picks by AOL and Librarians' Index to the Internet. A "Netsurfer Digest" review says ‘the cowboy code of 'honor, hard work, and a good bit of humor’ is very much alive. And nowhere is this more apparent than in the submissions at CowboyPoetry.com ...cowboy poetry really does preserve the romance of the West."

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Fernstrom Inc (October 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0971255032
• ISBN-13: 978-0971255036
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,646,730 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A grand and impressive collection of verse, February 11, 2002

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Big Roundup: Classic and Contemporary Poetry from CowboyPoetry.com (Paperback)

The Big Roundup: Classic and Contemporary Poetry from CowboyPoetry.com is a grand and impressive collection of verse about the Old West. Single-paragraph biographies of the many and varied poets help flesh out this flavorful, soul-stirring collection of verse that speaks to the heart. The Big Roundup is an excellent gift idea for anyone who enjoys poetry about the American West, and a highly recommended addition to personal, academic, and community library poetry collections and reading lists. Home From The Winter Range: We gathered the winter range today,/and brought the cattle in./The old cows still were fat as hogs,/but the two year olds were thin./It's sixteen miles of downhill road,/and the cows all know the way./They're tired of eating slough-grass,/and looking forward to some hay.//A cattle drive in January,/aint generally so nice./But today the sun shone brightly,/on our world of snow and ice./An easy day for horse and man,/because, as all cowboys know,/it aint too hard to chase a cow,/some place she wants to go! Mike Puhallo

5.0 out of 5 stars Yee Ha, November 5, 2006

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niki "nikisue" (chicago) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Big Roundup: Classic and Contemporary Poetry from CowboyPoetry.com (Paperback)

My first introduction to cowboy poetry and it is quite a ride. I recommend it highly as an addition to anyone's poetry library. It ranks right up there with the well-known classics. I especially enjoyed David Dague's "Backward R Double Bar D". His approach to raising grass fed beef doesn't preach but is handled with humor and subtlty.

"The Big Roundup" is a must read for anyone who is interested in the west or who simply appreciates and enjoys metered rhyme.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best of the "poet lariats"..., April 9, 2002

By 

Fearless Reviews "D. Patrick Miller, Editor" (Berkeley, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Big Roundup: Classic and Contemporary Poetry from CowboyPoetry.com (Paperback)

Round 'em up for the roundelay, pardners, cuz a whole herd of woolly versifiers is ridin' hard and shootin' straight in this rootin'-tootin' anthology that claims to have corralled "the best poems from the world's greatest collection of cowboy poetry." So fer as I kin tell, the PR writer ain't just pullin' yer chaps on that one. At 400+ pages, one has to wonder if this collection might not represent ALL the cowboy poetry in the world.

Anyways, if it's been a while since you've actually had fun with a thick book of poems, The Big Roundup will be a refreshing change of pace. Largely eschewing the modern urbanites' love of blank verse, the "poet lariats" featured in this volume show no fear of rounding up a rhyme or two -- and most of them adhere to meters that suggest that many of these verses have pulled double duty as songs. Try this stanza, for instance, from "The Western Home" by Brewster Higley et. al., 1873:

I love the wild flowers / In this bright land of ours, / I love, too, the wild curlew's scream / The bluffs and white rocks / And antelope flocks / That graze on the mountain so green.

If there's something strangely familiar about that rhythm, try singing it to the tune often applied to the same poem's most famous stanza -- the one that begins "Oh, give me a home / Where the buffalo roam. . . " That's just one of the entertaining discoveries you'll happen across in a volume that sings with the poetry of folks with names like French Camp Red, Buckshot Dot, Charley Sierra and Tex Tumbleweed. I reckon it goes without sayin' that this here collection is an absolute must for any red-blooded American library. -- P.MILLER for the FEARLESS REVIEWS