Robert William Service Poems

In youth I longed to paint
The loveliness I saw;
And yet by dire constraint
I had to study Law.
...

I took a contract to bury the body of blasphemous Bill MacKie,
Whenever, wherever or whatsoever the manner of death he die--
Whether he die in the light o' day or under the peak-faced moon;
In cabin or dance-hall, camp or dive, mucklucks or patent shoon;
...

'Come, see,' said he, 'my four-foot shelf,
A forty volume row;
And every one I wrote myself,
But that, of course, you know.'
...

Hurrah! I'm off to Finistere, to Finistere, to Finistere;
My satchel's swinging on my back, my staff is in my hand;
I've twenty louis in my purse, I know the sun and sea are there,
And so I'm starting out to-day to tramp the golden land.
...

Could Fate ordain a lot for me
Beyond all human ills,
I think that I would choose to be
A shephard of the hills;
...

Between the mountain and the sea
I've made a happy landing;
And here a peace has come to me
That passeth understanding;
...

A little mousey man he was
With board, and chalk in hand;
And millions were awestruck because
They couldn't understand.
...

What are we fighting for,
We fellows who go to war?
fighting for Freedom's sake!
(You give me the belly-ache.)
...

This is the end of all my ways,
My wanderings on earth,
My gloomy and my golden days,
My madness and my mirth.
...

In the gay, gleamy morn I adore to go walking,
And oh what sweet people I meet on my way!
I hail them with joy for I love to be talking,
Although I have nothing important to say.
...