Poems

Poems List

Explore poems from our collection

Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

Lost

Lost


"Black is the sky, but the land is white-(
O the wind, the snow and the storm!)-Father,
where is our boy to-night?
Pray to Go…

192
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

Lost Shepherd

Lost Shepherd

Ah me! How hard is destiny!
If we could only know. . . .
I bought my son from Sicily
A score of years ago;
I haled …

247
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

Lobster For Lunch

Lobster For Lunch

His face was like a lobster red,
His legs were white as mayonnaise:
"I've had a jolly lunch," he said,
That Englishman …

241
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

Longevity

Longevity


I watched one day a parrot grey - 'twas in a barber shop.
"Cuckold!" he cried, until I sighed: "You feathered devil, stop!"
The…

204
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

Lip-Stick Liz

Lip-Stick Liz

Oh Lip-Stick Liz was in the biz, That's the oldest known in history;
She had a lot of fancy rags, Of her form she made no myst'ry.

244
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

Little Moccasins

Little Moccasins

Come out, O Little Moccasins, and frolic on the snow!
Come out, O tiny beaded feet, and twinkle in the light!
I'll play the old …

234
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

L'Escargot D'Or

L'Escargot D'Or

O Tavern of the Golden Snail!
Ten sous have I, so I'll regale;
Ten sous your amber brew to sip
(Eight for the bock and tw…

239
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

L'Envoi

L'Envoi


We've finished up the filthy war;
We've won what we were fighting for . . .
(Or have we? I don't know).
But anyway I have…

166
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

Laughter

Laughter


I Laugh at Life: its antics make for me a giddy games,
Where only foolish fellows take themselves with solemn aim.
I laugh at po…

267
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

Learn To Like

Learn To Like

School yourself to savour most
Joys that have but little cost;
Prove the best of life is free,
Sun and stars and sky and se…

218
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

Land Mine

Land Mine

A grey gull hovered overhead,
Then wisely flew away.

'In half a jiffy you'll be dead,'
I thought I heard it say;

268
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

Kings Must Die

Kings Must Die

Alphonso Rex who died in Rome
Was quite a fistful as a kid;
For when I visited his home,
That gorgeous palace in Madrid, <…

235
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

Katie Drummond

Katie Drummond

My Louis loved me oh so well
And spiered me for his wife;
He would have haled me from the hell
That was my bawdy life:

197
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

Kail Yard Bard

Kail Yard Bard

A very humble pen I ply
Beneath a cottage thatch;
And in the sunny hours I try
To till my cabbage patch;
And in th…

214
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

Julot The Apache

Julot The Apache

You've heard of Julot the apache, and Gigolette, his mome. . . .
Montmartre was their hunting-ground, but Belville was their home.

276
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

Joey

Joey


I thought I would go daft when Joey died.
He was my first, and wise beyond his years.
For nigh a hundred nights I cried and cried, <…

255
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

Jim

Jim


Never knew Jim, did you? Our boy Jim?
Bless you, there was the likely lad;
Supple and straight and long of limb,
Clean as a w…

252
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

Jane

Jane


My daughter Jane makes dresses
For beautiful Princesses;
But though she's plain is Jane,
Of needlework she's vain,
A…

213
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

Inspiration

Inspiration


How often have I started out
With no thought in my noodle,
And wandered here and there about,
Where fancy bade me tod…

167
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

It Is Later Than You Think

It Is Later Than You Think

Lone amid the cafe's cheer,
Sad of heart am I to-night;
Dolefully I drink my beer,
But no single line I write.…

279
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

Infidelity

Infidelity


Three Triangles

TRIANGLE ONE

My husband put some poison in my beer,
And fondly hoped that I would drin…

198
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

Innocence

Innocence


The height of wisdom seems to me
That of a child;

So let my ageing vision be
Serene and mild.

T…

224
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

Imagination

Imagination


A gaunt and hoary slab of stone
I found in desert place,
And wondered why it lay alone
In that abandoned place.

212
Robert W. Service
Robert W. Service

Include Me Out

Include Me Out

I grabbed the new Who's Who to see

My name - but it was not.
Said I: "The form they posted me

I filled and…

225