Poems

Poems List

Explore poems from our collection

Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

The Aftermath

The Aftermath

Although my blood I've shed
In war's red wrath,
Oh how I darkly dread
Its aftermath!
Oh how I fear the day

179
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

The Actor

The Actor

Enthusiastic was the crowd
That hailed him with delight;
The wine was bright, the laughter loud
And glorious the night.

198
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

Take It Easy

Take It Easy

When I was boxing in the ring
In 'Frisco back in ninety-seven,
I used to make five bucks a fling
To give as good as I was gi…

201
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

Teddy Bear

Teddy Bear

O Teddy Bear! with your head awry
And your comical twisted smile,
You rub your eyes -- do you wonder why
You've slept such a l…

253
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

Susie

Susie


My daughter Susie, aged two,
Apes me in every way,

For as my household chores I do
With brooms she loves to play. <…

191
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

Suppose?

Suppose?


It's mighty nice at shut of day
With weariness to hit the hey,
To close your eyes, tired through and through,
And just f…

206
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

Successful Failure

Successful Failure

I wonder if successful men
Are always happy?

And do they sing with gusto when
Springtime is sappy?
Alt…

246
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

Stupidity

Stupidity


Stupidity, woe's anodyne,
Be kind and comfort me in mine;
Smooth out the furrows of my brow,
Make me as carefree as a c…

240
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

Strip Teaser

Strip Teaser

My precious grand-child, aged two,
Is eager to unlace one shoe,

And then the other;
Her cotton socks she'll deftly d…

249
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

Stamp Collector

Stamp Collector

My worldly wealth I hoard in albums three,
My life collection of rare postage stamps;
My room is cold and bare as you can see,

188
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

Spartan Mother

Spartan Mother

My mother loved her horses and
Her hounds of pedigree;
She did not kiss the baby hand
I held to her in glee.
Of co…

243
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

Spanish Peasant

Spanish Peasant

We have no aspiration vain
For paradise Utopian,
And here in our sun-happy Spain,
Though man exploit his fellow man,

157
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

Song Of The Sardine

Song Of The Sardine

A fat man sat in an orchestra stall and his cheeks were wet with tears,
As he gazed at the primadonna tall, whom he hadn't seen in ye…

214
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

Someone's Mother

Someone's Mother

Someone's Mother trails the street
Wrapt in rotted rags;
Broken slippers on her feet
Drearily she drags;
Driftin…

303
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

Slugging Saint

Slugging Saint

'Twas in a pub in Battersea
They call the "Rose and Crown,"
Quite suddenly, it seemed to me,
The Lord was looking down;

210
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

Sinister Sooth

Sinister Sooth

You say I am the slave of Fate
Bound by unalterable laws.
I harken, but your words I hate,
Your damnable Effect and Cause.…

218
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

Silence

Silence


When I was cub reporter I
Would interview the Great,
And sometimes they would make reply,
And sometimes hesitate;

228
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

Shakespeare And Cervantes

Shakespeare And Cervantes

Obit 23rd April 1616

Is it not strange that on this common date,
Two titans of their age, aye of all Time,

227
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

Seven

Seven


If on water and sweet bread
Seven years I'll add to life,
For me will no blood be shed,
No lamb know the evil knife;

284
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

Sentimental Hangman

Sentimental Hangman

'Tis hard to hang a husky lad
When larks are in the sky;
It hurts when daffydills are glad
To wring a neck awry,

204
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

Sensibility

Sensibility


I

Once, when a boy, I killed a cat.
I guess it's just because of that
A cat evokes my tenderness,
And…

212
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

Segregation

Segregation


I stood beside the silken rope,
Five dollars in my hand,
And waited in my patient hope
To sit anear the Band,

257
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

Schizophrenic

Schizophrenic


Each morning as I catch my bus,
A-fearing I'll be late,
I think: there are in all of us
Two folks quite separate; <…

149
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

Secretary

Secretary


My Master is a man of might
With manners like a hog;

He makes me slave from morn to night
And treats me like a …

184