Poems

Poems List

Explore poems from our collection

Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

The Centenarians

The Centenarians

I asked of ancient gaffers three
The way of their ripe living,
And this is what they told to me
Without Misgiving.

265
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

The Cat With Wings

The Cat With Wings

You never saw a cat with wings,
I'll bet a dollar -- well, I did;
'Twas one of those fantastic things
One runs across …

229
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

The Call

The Call

(France, August first, 1914)

Far and near, high and clear,

Hark to the call of War!
Over the gorse and the golde…

189
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

The Bulls

The Bulls

Six bulls I saw as black as jet,
With crimsoned horns and amber eyes
That chewed their cud without a fret,
And swished to brush…

295
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

The Boola-Boola Maid

The Boola-Boola Maid

In the wilds of Madagascar, Dwelt a Boola-boola maid;
For her hand young men would ask her, But she always was afraid.
Oh th…

255
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

The Bohemian Dreams

The Bohemian Dreams

Because my overcoat's in pawn,
I choose to take my glass
Within a little bistro on
The rue du Montparnasse;
T…

237
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

The Blind And The Dead

The Blind And The Dead

She lay like a saint on her copper couch;
Like an angel asleep she lay,

In the stare of the ghoulish folks that sl…

202
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

The Blood-Red Fourragere

The Blood-Red Fourragere

What was the blackest sight to me
Of all that campaign?
A naked woman tied to a tree
With jagged holes where her…

286
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

The Black Dudeen

The Black Dudeen

Humping it here in the dug-out,
Sucking me black dudeen,

I'd like to say in a general way,
There's nothing like …

205
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

The Battle Of The Bulge

The Battle Of The Bulge

This year an ocean trip I took, and as I am a Scot
And like to get my money's worth I never missed a meal.
In spite of Ne…

254
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

The Bandit

The Bandit

Upon his way to rob a Bank
He paused to watch a fire;
Though crowds were pressing rank on rank
He pushed a passage nigher;

267
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

The Ballad Of The Northern Lights

The Ballad Of The Northern Lights

One of the Down and Out--that's me. Stare at me well, ay, stare!
Stare and shrink--say! you wouldn't think that I was a…

178
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

The Ballad Of The Black Fox Skin

The Ballad Of The Black Fox Skin

I

There was Claw-fingered Kitty and Windy Ike living the life of shame,
When unto them in the Long, Long…

273
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

The Ballad Of The Ice-Worm Cocktail

The Ballad Of The Ice-Worm Cocktail

To Dawson Town came Percy Brown from London on the Thames.
A pane of glass was in his eye, and stockings on his stems…

340
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

The Ballad Of One-Eyed Mike

The Ballad Of One-Eyed Mike

This is the tale that was told to me by the man with the crystal eye,
As I smoked my pipe in the camp-fire light, and the Glo…

376
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

The Ballad Of Salvation Bill

The Ballad Of Salvation Bill

'Twas in the bleary middle of the hard-boiled Arctic night,
I was lonesome as a loon, so if you can,
Imagine my emot…

204
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

The Ballad Of How Macpherson Held The Floor

The Ballad Of How Macpherson Held The Floor

Said President MacConnachie to Treasurer MacCall:
"We ought to have a piper for our next Saint Andrew's …

165
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

The Ballad Of Hank The Finn

The Ballad Of Hank The Finn

Now Fireman Flynn met Hank the Finn where lights of Lust-land glow;
"Let's leave," says he, "the lousy sea, an…

232
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

The Baldness Of Chewed-Ear

The Baldness Of Chewed-Ear

When Chewed-ear Jenkins got hitched up to Guinneyveer McGee,
His flowin' locks, ye recollect, wuz frivolous an' free;

235
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

The Ballad Of Casey's Billy-Goat

The Ballad Of Casey's Billy-Goat

You've heard of "Casey at The Bat,"
And "Casey's Tabble Dote";
But now it's time
To write a rhyme

238
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

The Atavist

The Atavist

What are you doing here, Tom Thorne, on the white top-knot o' the world,
Where the wind has the cut of a naked knife and the stars are rapier…

255
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

The Argument

The Argument

Said Jock McBrown to Tam McSmith,
"A little bet I'm game to take on,
That I can scotch this Shakespeare myth
And prove Will …

227
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

The Ape And God

The Ape And God

Son put a poser up to me
That made me scratch my head:
"God made the whole wide world," quoth he;
"That's right, my boy,"…

261
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

The Anniversary

The Anniversary

"This bunch of violets," he said,
"Is for my daughter dear.
Since that glad morn when she was wed
It is today a year.

236