Arthur Chapman (poet)
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Arthur Chapman, American cowboy poet
Arthur Chapman (1873–1935) was an early twentieth century American poet and newspaper columnist.
Sourced
Out Where the West Begins and Other Western Verses (1917)
- Out where the handclasp’s a little stronger,
Out where the smile dwells a little longer,
That’s where the West begins.- Out Where the West Begins, st. 1
- We used to run a cow-ranch,
In all that old term meant,
But all our ancient glories
In recent years have went;
We’re takin’ summer boarders,
And, puttin’ it quite rude,
It’s now the cowboy’s province
To herd the festive dude.- The Dude Ranch, st. 1
- The sheep are down at the water, a-drinkin' their bloomin' fill,
An' me and the dog are dozin', as herders and collies will;
The world may be movin' somewheres, but here it is standin' still.- The Herder's Reverie, st. 1
- It's hard to think that in cities there's men who are goin' to mad,
Each strivin' to beat his fellows and get what the others had;
And from this here peaceful viewpoint, such doin's look bad, plum bad.- The Herder's Reverie, st. 3
- It was jest another instance of a flaw in work of man;
A lefty never figgered in the gunman’s battle plan;
There ain’t no scheme man thinks of that Dame Nature cannot beat —
So his pupils are unlearnin’ that cute trick they got from Pete.- Pete's Error, st. 4
- He is the last of that old guard defending Cattle Land,
Those knights who jousted for the cause — blood brothers of the brand;
But now they’ve fenced the water-hole, they’re harrowing the plain,
They’re changing all the sagebrush flats to fields of waving grain;
The cowmen will be gone, they say, and there are no recruits —
Good-bye, brave cattle-puncher in the high-heeled boots!- The High-Heeled Boots, st. 3
- Out among the big things —
The mountains and the plains —
An hour ain’t important,
Nor are the hour’s gains;
The feller in the city
Is hurried night and day,
But out among the big things
He learns the calmer way.- Out Among the Big Things, st. 1
- Out among the big things —
The heights that gleam afar —
A feller gets to wonder
What means each distant star;
He may not get an answer,
But somehow, every night
He feels, among the big things,
That everything’s all right.- Out Among the Big Things, st. 3
Cactus Center (1921)
- We welcome folks in Cactus Center if they've got an honest lay;
If their game ain't too durn crooked, we never stop the play;
But a get-rich-quicker blew in, with a game we did n't like,
So we did n't waste the minutes in invitin' him to hike.- Discipline in Cactus Center, st. 1
- There ain't no leaves to turn to gold—
There ain't a tree in sight—
In other ways the herder's told
October's come, all right.- October on the Sheep Range, st. 1
Unsourced
- Envy is like a fly that passes all the body's sounder parts, and dwells upon the sores.
