Collected Poems of Robert Service

by Robert W. Service

Book Overview

Robert Service wrote in the golden years of the Klondike--of the rough and ready men, and women just as tough. No-one in Robert's world (real or imagined) minced words or had any self-consciousness... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0399150153
• ISBN13: 9780399150159
• Release Date: January 1989
• Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons
• Length: 735 Pages
• Weight: 2.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.7" x 5.8" x 8.1"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

everyone should read

The Cremation of Sam McGee is one of my favorites. Robert Service had a gift of telling a story about the cold cold North. I usually reread every other year & reacquaint myself.

Excellent book of poetry by one of the world's finest poets

They say that Robert Service was not a 'poet's poet'. The effete literati sneered at his work, and accused him of writing doggerel. But, the people have always loved his work. He was truly a 'people's poet.' His first volume of poetry, The Spell of the Yukon and Other Verses, sold out while it was still on the presses. Two of his ballads, The Shooting of Dan McGrew and The Cremation of Sam McGee, are among the most memorized poems in history.The Shooting of Dan McGrew alone made him a half-million dollars, which was a sizeable fortune in his time. He never had to do manual labor for his bread again, after its publication.This volume of his work contains his best-known poems (those contained in both The Spell of the Yukon and his second, longer collection, Ballads of a Cheechako).This is a book that you will not only delight in reading before the fire on a winter's evening or when that confining office job is getting you down, but it will also provide an endless source of conversation and amusement for your friends, many of whom will no doubt be able to recite large portions of some of his poems.For Robert Service is, without a doubt, one of the best-loved of the world's poets. His poetry stands alongside that of Kipling, Coleridge and Poe in the public's affection.Joseph (Joe) Pierreauthor of Handguns and Freedom...their care and maintenanceand other books

Poetry for everyman!

I first came across Robert Service about third or fourth grade and the book was confiscated first by my teacher and then by my parents as "unsuitable". To me RS is the most suitable poet who ever put pen to paper - with no apology to Yeats or others.All human life is to be found between these covers with very few duds. If ever you were stuck for a party piece, try "The Shooting of Dan McGrew" or "The Cremation of Sam McGee", either will generate a terrific response and with appropriate drama, a standing ovation.Most of all, there are poems here which capture an era long gone and soon to be forgotten. Robert Service will justifiably survive the majority of 20th century poets

Musings on a broken-spined hardcover

My copy is nearing 25 yrs old and shows the wear and tear of living in backpacks, suitcases, briefcases and brown paper bags. This compendium of 6 different books of Service's work will take you from his Gold Rush Days of the Yukon, to his escape to the Bohemian Quarter in Paris to become a 'Serious Poet', and to his volunteering to become an ambulance driver for the Red Cross in the First World War. His ballads are remarkable in how they take you deeply into the the person's life for that brief time as you read. There is the lighthearted comedy he is known for with "The Cremation of Sam McGee", as well as the first person accounts of the unimaginable horrors and uplifting glories of battle in the trenches. Service wrote for the everyday working man, in everything he is utterly approachable and unpretentious. I will confess, as does he, this is "lowbrow stuff", but it is mighty satisfying.

Breathtaking!

Very few poets have captured the grandeur and beauty of the spirt of adventure like Robert Service. In a day and age where refreshing verse and lyrics are hard to come by, a simple look into these pages reveals one of the most monumental works in modern poetry. Nothing quite excites the heart and stirs the soul like the works from Robert Service.You will find your heart fluttering, your eyes moist and your mind wandering aimless in far away places as Service takes you there on a magic carpet ride of grandeur and adventure.Inside you'll find a personal favorite, Service's Call of the Wild. If this doesn't move you, I'm not sure that anything will.Service's poems could very well have been labeled chicken soup for the soul, well before those series of books under the same title.Nothing short of magical.

the best intro to poetry for young readers

my first introduction to poetry and has been the best experience for poetic appreciation i can imagine. in my formative years i thought that poetry was for longhairs only, but i found that i could really enjoy this lighthearted approach to this medium.unfortunatyely it is the only poetry i really enjoy.i have all his works and reread them year after year. i highly recommend robert w sertvice to everyone with a sense of adventure and/or whimsy start with the cremation of sam mcgee and youll be hooked just like i was thanks, robert for many hours of reading enjoyment.