Customer Reviews

Collected Poems of Robert Service

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

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) Pierre

author of Handguns and Freedom...their care and maintenance
and other books

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

This is possibly the finest poetry collection ever authored. This collection includes Service's best known poems from Songs of a Sourdough, including The Call of the Yukon, The Shooting of Dan McGrew, and my personal favourite, The Cremation of Sam McGee. If these poems don't have you booking a trip to the Yukon, nothing will.

Service was a man's man, living in northern Canada in White Horse and Dawson. This gives his poems a rarefied feeling that cannot be counterfeited. If Louis L'Amour had lived in northern Canada he would have been a soul mate to Robert W. Service. They both loved the outdoors and loved the men of the outdoors. Perhaps the most amazing thing about Robert W. Service is that his life story is even more compelling than his poetry. To read The Men that Don't Fit In is to get a glimpse of the man who fits.

This is poetry for the soul that requires no degree in literature to appreciate.

As anyone who has read my Amazon.com review of "The Poetry Of Robert Frost" knows, Robert Frost is my favorite poet. Robert Service comes in a close second. "The Collected Poems Of Robert Service", consisting of Service's poems up to 1940, reveals the breadth of his work. The "Bard Of The Yukon" is well represented in this collection, but this collection goes far beyond the Yukon. In addition to the Northern Nature poems for which Service is famous, this collection includes poems set in World War I which reveal the common humanity of soldiers and the inhumanity of war. Poems set in Europe between the wars provide an insight into that Bohemian world. Whatever the topic, the reader will be touched by the poems. Some will provide lines to remember and quote, others insights to contemplate, some just entertainment.

Service's poetry is readily understandable, enjoyable and reveals much about human character.

Pick up and read!

Service's works range from frivolous to morose. His pithy poetry brings rhyme to the full range of men's emotions- laughter, romance, love of a buddy, reverence for heroes and pity for the dead and dying of war. He is an excellent read for those who don't have a love of poetry but have a love of life.

As pointed out by a couple of other reviewers, Robert Service's work has been rather putdown over the years by the elitist and, indeed, still is. That is just fine by me. The only problem here is that because of this "looking down upon attitude" many, who like to associate with such people may not read Service's work for that reason. That is a shame because they are missing some great poetry and a whole group of fun. Recently, the "cow boy poets" in our country are making a come back and rightfully so. These "unsophisticated" poems reflect our culture, tell a story and are simply good. Service falls withing this genre. I enjoy poetry in most forms and I certainly would feel much poorer for not having read this author's work. Service tells simple stories with simple words, that are to the point and few frills. There is little pretentiousness here. These are stories from our past and need to be treasured. Recommend this work highly.

I was introduced to Robert Service while attending Jr. High in Alaska. I loved his work so much that my parents bought me this book. Picking it up again, after 25 years, his work is still captivating. It transports the reader back 100+ years, to a wild frontier.

And I want to go back - and I will.