Backdrop Addresses Cowboy

“Pioneers! O Pioneers!” by Walt Whitman (1864)

In this long poem written over a century before “Backdrop Addresses America,” celebrated poet Walt Whitman presents an uncritical version of American settlers, in contrast to the depiction of the cowboy in Atwood’s work. Whitman’s poem exhorts the pioneers to fell “primeval forests” and blaze a new trail. Though the poem may seem to celebrate a warring spirit, it must be noted that it was written as an appeal for more soldiers to join the liberal forces in the American Civil War.

“Siren Song” by Margaret Atwood (1974)

“Siren Song” was published in the same volume of poems as “Backdrop Addresses Cowboy.” Like “Backdrop …,” “Siren Song” too is an example of Atwood’s reversal of expectations around personae and mythic figures. While in “Backdrop …” the poet presents the heroic cowboy in a new light, in the feminist poem “Siren Song,” she overturns sexist stereotypes around the sirens of Greek mythology.

“They Don’t Love You Like I Love You” by Natalie Diaz (2019)

In this poem, Mojave American poet Natalie Diaz retells the history of America from the viewpoint of its indigenous people. Unlike the mainstream narrative of American progress, Diaz’s poem details the history of the United States as a history of violence and oppression.