The Best of Robert Service

by Robert W. Service, Mariken Van Nimwegen (Illustrator)

This new and revised edition of poems about the men and women of the North features the most loved ballads by Robert Service, and is illustrated with lively art by Marilen Van Nimwegen. While living in Whitehorse, Robert Service wrote The Cremation of Sam McGee, and other well-known poems. He wrote and published into his mid-eighties. He was quoted as saying, I just go for a walk and come back with a poem in my pocket.

Genres: Poetry, Canada, Fiction, Classics, Reference, Travel, Adventure

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1907

About the author

This author is the the British-Canadian writer of Yukon poetry. For the British historian of modern Russia, see Robert Service.

Robert William Service was born into a Scottish family while they were living in Preston, England. He was schooled in Scotland, attending Hillhead High School in Glasgow. He moved to Canada at the age of 21 when he gave up his job working in a Glasgow bank, and traveled to Vancouver Island, British Columbia with his Buffalo Bill outfit and dreams of becoming a cowboy.

He drifted around western North America, taking and quitting a series of jobs. Hired by the Canadian Bank of Commerce, he worked in a number of its branches before being posted to the branch in Whitehorse (not Dawson) in the Yukon Territory in 1904, six years after the Klondike Gold Rush. Inspired by the vast beauty of the Yukon wilderness, Service began writing poetry about the things he saw.

Conversations with locals led him to write about things he hadn't seen, many of which hadn't actually happened, as well. He did not set foot in Dawson City until 1908, arriving in the Klondike ten years after the Gold Rush, but his renown as a writer was already established.

For more information, please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_W._Service.

Reviews

[Mike (the Paladin) · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I was in high school my "best subject" was public speaking (I know, the most feared thing in the world, public speaking. Maybe I'm put together wrong. Was it Seinfeld who pointed out that most people fear public speaking more than death...and that means that most people would rather be the corpse at a funeral than the speaker?) Anyway...we had to do a reading and while everyone else was doing Shakespeare or Poe, I read The Shooting of Dan McGrew.

I suppose the best know poem of Mr. Service is The Cremation of Sam McGee. Between the two mentioned, you can get a fair flavor of his work. I find that I don't often have the "quietness of mind" it takes to read and enjoy poetry. I always "feel" that I could and should be able to enjoy it more, but it doesn't happen often. When I do settle enough though, I love Service.

With the flavor of the Yukon and the gold rush, you can smell the wood smoke, feel the bite of the wind, hear the howl of the wolves. Mortality in every line, the fangs of Alaskan ice, the steel of a Bowie knife or the lead of a bullet is always here in the "land of the midnight sun". Nothing soft here, you're not getting into someone "finding his softer side" or "exploring his gentle feelings" you're entering a world that's hard, unforgiving, and often final...but sometimes with that trademark (often dark) humor.

Recommended.

[Nancy Lewis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Robert Service never claimed to be a poet. Instead, he said he wrote verse, "something the man in the street would take notice of and the sweet old lady would paste in her album; something the schoolboy would spout and the fellow in the pub would quote."

Johnny Cash recites The Cremation Of Sam McGee

The Call of the Wild isn't included in this volume, but it's one of my favorites by Robert Service.

[Bon · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really unique volume of poetry, close to my heart as my grandfather lived a remarkably similar life to Service and spent most of his life mining for gold in the Yukon.

The classics like Sam McGee are in here, but so much more. Profound musings upon lonely deaths in a frigid climate, the isolation, if it's worth it to have a pile of gold when you're freezing, hungry and thirsty. I particularly enjoyed the poems showing how happy and fulfilling simple lives without riches can be, compared to those of the wealthy. And ones like The Law of the Yukon really showed Service's devotion to a land that showed anything but that to the people chipping away at it, hoping for gold. So poetic.

And the World War I poems, of which I had been unaware before - whew. I can imagine how peaceful the Yukon would seem, even in its all merciless cold, to a man who had been in the trenches. I love a good death ballad, and many of these poems touch upon it, about WWI and the Yukon both. I also loved Dark Pine, near the end, ode to the trees I grew up among here in the Pacific Northwest.

I'm not well-versed in analyzing poetry but I do love the ones that are more of a narrative or song, and there were plenty of those in here.

[Anne (In Search of Wonder) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read two books set in Alaska - fiction and non fiction- and both mentioned this poet, so I figured I should read his poetry.

If you're not a poetry fan, his poems are very accessible. He gets to the heart of Alaskan life in the early twentieth century in a very engaging way. He seems to have captured the essence of the place and time in a remarkable way.

I was surprised by the amount of cursing. 😕 Some of the poems were rough.

[Matthew Dambro · Rating 5 out of 5]

He was known as the "Canadian Kipling". His work has been denigrated by the critics and called mere doggerel, but people still read him aloud and love his work. Although known for his Yukon poems, his range is astonishing. His style is as old as Beowulf and just as dramatic. His poetry is meant to be heard and not read. I loved the book.

[Raleigh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Goated

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are a lover of free verse, you will probably not appreciate the work of Robert Service,as he writes in a lilting rollicking meter with rhyming verse as his medium. Although I was familiar with offerings like The Cremation of Sam McGee and The Shooting of Dan McGrew, I was unaware of the sheer scope of his poetry. If rhyming verse is a problem for you, I suggest you try to put it into the background and enjoy the bone-chilling descriptions of the Yukon and its beautiful unforgiving geography. Many of the selections are more like tight little short stories with outrageous characters. A strong current of religious philosophy runs through much of the poetry, and just when you are beginning to think Service is taking himself too seriously he spins another surprise-ending ballad. There is a section of poems about World War 2 and Service's time spent in Paris; I didn't enjoy these as much as the ones about the wild and lawless north.

[Nutkin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good collection of his works covering a number of topics. I was familiar with his famous works about the Yukon and have been able to quote sections of "The Cremation of Sam McGee" and "The Shooting of Dan McGrew" since I was a kid, but this introduced me to his poems on other topics.

I definitely found it handy to have my phone nearby to look up older terminology!

Poems tended to be about nature, living hard and working hard.

I actually discovered one of his poems ("Pantheist") that seems like it'd be a nice choice for my memorial service some day since I'm not religious, but love nature.

[Jeremiah Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my all time favorites. I think I've owned at least four separate copies and have given just as many as gifts. Service writes with great honesty and painful comedy. His depiction of the human condition in the throes of upheaval, destitution, war, and celebration are warm and invigorating with choice points of poignant realism.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book of poetry gets even better the second time around. Robert Service wrote heroic poems of the Yukon at the turn of the last century. Each is a ballad, an ode to the way of life, a frontier long passed. The accompanying contemporary photography carries the reader into the past. Great read. I will be quoting from it.

[Kelsey Manning · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book mostly because it was fun to flip to a page and find a new poem to read. Maybe it is a poem that you have already read and are enjoying for the second time, but that is easy to do because all of the poems are so creative and interesting. I recommend this book to anyone who is looking for something interesting, sometimes with a twist at the end!

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A deluxe edition of the works of Service, with stunning period photographs of the Yukon territory he immortalized through his incomparable verses. Photos are from the famed Kinsey collection, taken in the 1890s during the height of the Klondike gold rush.

Stunning pictures and truly, Robert Service is a wordsmith, deluxe! Such fun poetry to read.

[Jen (bookscoffeedogs) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Strange...but true. My grandmother had 'The Cremation of Sam McGee' memorized, my Dad has it memorized, and boy I am trying to get the thing memorized. A family heirloom of sorts! I really want the children's book of 'The Cremation of Sam McGee' for my kiddos!

[Nathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was drawn to Robert Service by his depiction of scenes from Alaska and the Yukon, and he certainly doesn't disappoint. His lively narratives are told with a mastery of rhythm and humor, often accompanied by a clever twist at the end. This is a fun and thought-provoking read.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I rarely read poems and don't know much about them but I really enjoyed Robert Service. His depiction of the wild north is great. At times beautiful, at times harsh, and often both at the same time. Some of the poems were so funny that I laughed so hard I cried.

[Stephwereley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Served as s a good palette cleaner between books.

[Adam McPhee · Rating 2 out of 5]

In Canada they try to teach you that this is real poetry.

[Danni · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book belonged to my grandfather that recently passed away. I inherited it. Some of these poems I have heard him read so many times that I can hear him reading them. It is precious to me.

[Tanya Procknow · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Quitter is still my favorite.

[Jack Heath]

Synopsis: The Shooting of Dan McGrew and the Cremation of Sam McGee were written by Service in Canada's Yukon during the gold rush era.

[Elaine Lucky · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Cremation of Sam McGee is one of my favorites. Robert Service had a gift of telling a story about the cold cold North. I usually reread every other year & reacquaint myself.

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a short collection of poems about gold prospectors. Even after spreading it out over the course of a few days, I grew tired of the dramatic monologues, ballads, and just the general aggrandizing and documenting of the Yukon gold rush. I would acknowledge, however, that this may also be what makes Service's poems great. They seem written by someone (and for someone) who has worked and who has passed the time working by reciting verse. These poems have catchy rhyme schemes and a playfully plodding rhythm. I wonder if today they are most often read as a sort of colonial narrative. It occurs to me, however, that one could do a lot with these poems as evidence of how men who seem to mostly live without women imagine themselves--rugged, tough, and independent. They have problems, exacerbate them, and feel sorry for themselves. They enjoy "sinning," a word that appears very often here, but are temporarily repentant when they pause to think about their life being judged by God. How much has this group changed, I wonder.

[Joan DuNard · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not much of a reader of poetry as many poems are beyond my comprehension being based on some things such as Ancient Greek mythology or Norse myths; historical events that are little known; etc. HOWEVER, when my hubby and I took a cruise to Alaska and stopped in Skagway, I purchased this book of Robert Service's poetry and it is a delight. It tells the stories of the men and women of the cold North - Alaska. One of his most famous poems, The Cremation of Sam McGee, will satisfy your curiosity of just how cold it gets as well as tickle your funny bone. Service tells the stories of the Klondike gold rush with prospectors and sour dough. It's just a delightful read with characters bearing names that are fittingly funny. The book is beautifully produced with pictures of the era of the Gold Rush interspersed among the poems. Enjoy some mining stories told in this poetry of Robert W. Service.

[David T Bosshard · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The Best of Robert Service" is a timeless treasure that has woven its way through the fabric of my family's generations. From my grandfather's evenings by the 7-Mile fireplace reciting Service's vivid verses, to my dad's recitation of Service’s poems that brought the Yukon to life, this collection has been a beloved companion. My children have grown up with the rhythmic tales of adventure and resilience, and now, my grandchildren are discovering the same magic in Service's words. His poetry transcends time, captivating hearts and sparking imaginations across ages. This anthology is a testament to the enduring power of storytelling, and it holds a cherished place in our family's literary heritage.

[Nicholas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Truly amazing. There were countless times where I was reading a poem and I thought that Robert W. Service was a genius. Let me explain. As I read a poem, sometimes I would come across a rhyme and I would think about how amazing that rhyme choice was. For example, in Robert Service’s poem “The Cremation of Sam McGee,” He rhymed chum with crematorium. This is just one example of many where Robert Service made clever rhyme choices. It wasn’t just rhyme choices that he did well with though; he also had amazing imagery. Overall, Robert Service is an underrated poet and if you have not yet read any of his poems, I strongly suggest you do so.

[Ron Me]

Although I don't care for most poetry, I found this rather attractive, though dark. Many poems about WWI, people dying in the Yukon looking for gold, and even one on Hiroshima. But some were humourous, and at least one was a tear-jerker. Recommended.

N.B.: I didn't read this edition, mine was published by Dodd and Mead.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful imagery of a rough and dangerous time - the Klondike gold rush along the Yukon. Some poems are heartbreaking, others are humorous, and all have stories to tell. All are written in such a way that you forget you’re reading poetry. The pictures in this edition are a fantastic look into the past.

[Jeff Budds · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great for reading around the campfire. Robert Service's masculine poetry brings to life a variety of larger than life, old west characters: mountain men, trappers, scoundrels, harlots. The reader can feel the cold, the silence, the loneliness of the Yukon. As with almost all poets, some of his verses are far better than others. Don't miss Blasphemous Bill or Sam McGee.

[Lyndsay-ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Robert Service is probably my favorite poet, amd definitely has written my favorite poem. That would be The Cremation of Sam McGee.

This books was lovely to read. The illustrations were quirky and fun. Overall a great book.

[Andrew Christenson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The poems are fantastic and conjure up many great visuals while giving a peak into the culture of the gold rush.

The artwork chosen (for the 2004 edition I have) left something to be desired in its placement and color palette.