Robert William Service Poems

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

As nothingness draws near
How I can see
Inexorably clear
My vanity.
...

He took the grade in second - quite a climb,
Dizzy and dangerous, yet how sublime!
The road went up and up; it curved around
The mountain and the gorge grew more profound.
...

Since all that is was ever bound to be;
Since grim, eternal laws our Being bind;
And both the riddle and the answer find,
And both the carnage and the calm decree;
...

Oh happy he who cannot see
With scientific eyes;
Who does not know how flowers grow,
And is not planet wise;
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They must not wed the Doctor said,
For they were far from strong,
And children of their marriage bed
Might not live overlong.
...

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

At school I never gained a prize,
Proving myself the model ass;
Yet how I watched the wistful eyes,
And cheered my mates who topped the class.
...

When twenty-one I loved to dream,
And was to loafing well inclined;
Somehow I couldn't get up steam
To welcome work of any kind.
...

Said darling daughter unto me:
"oh Dad, how funny it would be
If you had gone to Mexico
A score or so of years ago.
...