Poems

Poems List

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Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

The Telegraph Operator

The Telegraph Operator

I will not wash my face;
I will not brush my hair;
I "pig" around the place-There's
nobody to care.
Nothing but rock a…

215
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

The Three Bares

The Three Bares

Ma tried to wash her garden slacks but couldn't get 'em clean
And so she thought she'd soak 'em in a bucket o' benzine.
It worked all rig…

244
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

The Sum-Up

The Sum-Up

It is not power and fame
That make success;
It is not rank or name
Rate happiness.
It is not honour due
Nor pile of pelf:

244
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

The Stretcher-Bearer

The Stretcher-Bearer

My stretcher is one scarlet stain,
And as I tries to scrape it clean,
I tell you wot -- I'm sick with pain
For all I've 'eard,…

213
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

The Song Of The Wage-Slave

The Song Of The Wage-Slave

When the long, long day is over, and the Big Boss gives me my pay,
I hope that it won't be hell-fire, as some of the parsons say.

339
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

The Spirit Of The Unborn Babe

The Spirit Of The Unborn Babe

The Spirit of the Unborn Babe peered through the window-pane,
Peered through the window-pane that glowed like beacon in the night…

226
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

The Song Of The Camp-Fire

The Song Of The Camp-Fire

Heed me, feed me, I am hungry, I am red-tongued with desire;
Boughs of balsam, slabs of cedar, gummy fagots of the pine,
Heap t…

249
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

The Song Of The Pacifist

The Song Of The Pacifist

What do they matter, our headlong hates, when we take the toll of our Dead?
Think ye our glory and gain will pay for the torrent of bl…

180
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

The Silent Ones

The Silent Ones

I'm just an ordinary chap
Who comes home to his tea,
And mostly I don't care a rap
What people think of me;
I do my job and t…

229
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

The Sniper

The Sniper

Because back home in Tennessee
I was a champeen shot,

They made a sniper outa me
An' ninety krouts I got:
I wish to Christ I…

253
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

The Sewing-Girl

The Sewing-Girl

The humble garret where I dwell
Is in that Quarter called the Latin;
It isn't spacious -- truth to tell,
There's hardly room to swi…

292
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

The Shorter Catechism

The Shorter Catechism

I burned my fingers on the stove
And wept with bitterness;
But poor old Auntie Maggie strove
To comfort my distress.
Sa…

257
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

The Scribe's Prayer

The Scribe's Prayer

When from my fumbling hand the tired pen falls,
And in the twilight weary droops my head;
While to my quiet heart a still voice calls…

206
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

The Search

The Search

I bought a young and lovely bride,
Paying her father gold;
Lamblike she rested by my side,
As cold as ice is cold.
No love in her …

232
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

The Sceptic

The Sceptic

My Father Christmas passed away
When I was barely seven.
At twenty-one, alack-a-day,
I lost my hope of heaven.


Yet no…

199
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

The Rover

The Rover

Oh, how good it is to be
Foot-loose and heart-free!
Just my dog and pipe and I, underneath the vast sky;
Trail to try and goal to win, wh…

254
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

The Revelation

The Revelation

The same old sprint in the morning, boys, to the same old din and smut;
Chained all day to the same old desk, down in the same old rut;
Po…

218
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

The Rhyme Of The Restless Ones

The Rhyme Of The Restless Ones

We couldn't sit and study for the law;
The stagnation of a bank we couldn't stand;
For our riot blood was surging, and we …

240
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

The Release

The Release

To-day within a grog-shop near
I saw a newly captured linnet,
Who beat against his cage in fear,
And fell exhausted every minute;

275
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

The Record

The Record

Fearing that she might go one day
With some fine fellow of her choice,
I called her from her childish play,
And made a record of her voi…

176
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

The Quest

The Quest

I sought Him on the purple seas,
I sought Him on the peaks aflame;
Amid the gloom of giant trees
And canyons lone I called His name;

242
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

The Receptionist

The Receptionist

France is the fairest land on earth,
Lovely to heart's desire,
And twice a year I span its girth,
Its beauty to admire.
But …

255
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

The Portrait

The Portrait

The portrait there above my bed
They tell me is a work of art;
My Wife,--since twenty years she's dead:
Her going nearly broke my hear…

231
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

The Prisoner

The Prisoner

Upspoke the culprit at the bar,
Conducting his own case:
'Your Lordship, I have gone to far,
But grant me of your grace.
As I wa…

262