Robert William Service (January 16, 1874 – September 11, 1958) was a poet and writer. He is most well known for his writings on the Canadian North, including the poems "The Shooting of Dan McGrew" and "The Cremation of Sam McGee". 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. Hired by the Canadian Bank of Commerce, he was posted to the bank's branch in Whitehorse in the Yukon Territory. Inspired by the vast beauty of the Yukon wilderness, Service started writing his poetry about the things he saw.
the cremation of sam mcgee
There are strange things done in the midnight sun
By the men who moil for gold;[read poem]
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By the men who moil for gold;
the phoenix and the turtle
Let the bird of loudest lay
On the sole Arabian tree
Herald sad and trumpet be,
To wh...[read poem]
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On the sole Arabian tree
Herald sad and trumpet be,
To wh...
when daisies pied and violets blue
When daisies pied and violets blue
And lady-smocks all silver-white
And cuckoo-buds of...[read poem]
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And lady-smocks all silver-white
And cuckoo-buds of...
the shooting of dan mcgrew
A bunch of the boys were whooping it up in the Malamute saloon;
The kid that handles the music-...[read poem]
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The kid that handles the music-...
sonnet lxxi: no longer mourn for me when i am dead
No longer mourn for me when I am dead
Than you shall hear the surly sudden bell
Give warni...[read poem]
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Than you shall hear the surly sudden bell
Give warni...
sonnet cxvi: let me not to the marriage of true minds
Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters ...[read poem]
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Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters ...
under the greenwood tree
Vnder the greene wood tree,
who loues to lye with mee,
And turne his merrie Note,...[read poem]
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who loues to lye with mee,
And turne his merrie Note,...
sonnet cxxx: my mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun
My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips' red:
If s...[read poem]
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Coral is far more red than her lips' red:
If s...
sonnet lxxiii: that time of year thou mayst in me behold
That time of year thou mayst in me behold
When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang
Upo...[read poem]
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When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang
Upo...
sonnet xxix: when in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes
When, in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes,
I all alone beweep my outcast state
And tro...[read poem]
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I all alone beweep my outcast state
And tro...
sonnet xxx: when to the sessions of sweet silent thought
When to the sessions of sweet silent thought
I summon up remembrance of things past,
I sig...[read poem]
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I summon up remembrance of things past,
I sig...
sonnet lx: like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore
Like as the waves make towards the pebbl'd shore,
So do our minutes hasten to their end;
E...[read poem]
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So do our minutes hasten to their end;
E...
o mistres mine where are you roming?
O Mistres mine where are you roming?
O stay and heare, your true loues coming,
That ca...[read poem]
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O stay and heare, your true loues coming,
That ca...
venus and adonis
Even as the sunne with purple-colourd face,
Had tane his last leaue of the weeping morne,
...[read poem]
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Had tane his last leaue of the weeping morne,
...
sonnet cx: alas, 'tis true i have gone here and there
Alas, 'tis true I have gone here and there
And made myself a motley to the view,
Gor'd min...[read poem]
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And made myself a motley to the view,
Gor'd min...
sonnet liii: what is your substance, whereof are you made
What is your substance, whereof are you made,
That millions of strange shadows on you tend?...[read poem]
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That millions of strange shadows on you tend?...
sonnet xv: when i consider everything that grows
When I consider everything that grows
Holds in perfection but a little moment,
That this h...[read poem]
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Holds in perfection but a little moment,
That this h...
sonnet xxxiii: full many a glorious morning have i seen
Full many a glorious morning have I seen
Flatter the mountain-tops with sovereign eye,
Kis...[read poem]
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Flatter the mountain-tops with sovereign eye,
Kis...
sonnet xix: devouring time, blunt thou the lion's paws
Devouring Time, blunt thou the lion's paws,
And make the earth devour her own sweet brood;...[read poem]
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And make the earth devour her own sweet brood;...
take, o take those lips away
Take, oh take those lips away,
that so sweetly were forsworne,
And those eyes: the bre...[read poem]
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that so sweetly were forsworne,
And those eyes: the bre...
orpheus with his lute made trees
Orpheus with his Lute made Trees,
And the Mountaine tops that freeze,
Bow themselues when ...[read poem]
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And the Mountaine tops that freeze,
Bow themselues when ...
sonnet lxiv: when i have seen by time's fell hand defaced
When I have seen by Time's fell hand defac'd
The rich proud cost of outworn buried age;
Wh...[read poem]
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The rich proud cost of outworn buried age;
Wh...
sonnet cxxix: th'expense of spirit in a waste of shame
Th' expense of spirit in a waste of shame
Is lust in action; and till action, lust
Is perj...[read poem]
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Is lust in action; and till action, lust
Is perj...
sonnet cvii: not mine own fears, nor the prophetic soul
Not mine own fears, nor the prophetic soul
Of the wide world dreaming on things to come,
C...[read poem]
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Of the wide world dreaming on things to come,
C...
sonnet xxxii: if thou survive my well-contented day
If thou survive my well-contented day,
When that churl Death my bones with dust shall cover,...[read poem]
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When that churl Death my bones with dust shall cover,...
sonnet lxvi: tir'd with all these, for restful death
Tir'd with all these, for restful death I cry,
As, to behold desert a beggar born,
And nee...[read poem]
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As, to behold desert a beggar born,
And nee...
hearke, hearke, the larke at heauens gate sings
Hearke, hearke, the Larke at Heauens gate sings,
and Phœbus gins arise,
His Steed...[read poem]
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and Phœbus gins arise,
His Steed...
sonnet xcvii: how like a winter hath my absence been
How like a winter hath my absence been
From thee, the pleasure of the fleeting year!
What ...[read poem]
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From thee, the pleasure of the fleeting year!
What ...
sonnet cxi: o, for my sake do you with fortune chide
O, for my sake do you with Fortune chide,
The guilty goddess of my harmful deeds,
That did...[read poem]
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The guilty goddess of my harmful deeds,
That did...
sonnet xviii: shall i compare thee to a summer's day?
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate.
Rough win...[read poem]
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Thou art more lovely and more temperate.
Rough win...
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