The Very Best of Robert Service

by Robert W. Service, Jon Van Zyle (Illustrator)

Over 100 poems portray the trials and tribulations of Gold Rush pioneers, as well as Service's days in France and his experiences serving in World War I in the American Ambulance Corps. Some favorites include, The Cremation of Sam McGee, The Law of the Yukon, The Shooting of Dan McGrew and Bessie's Boil.

Genres: Poetry

216 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

This author is the the British-Canadian writer of Yukon poetry. For the British historian of modern Russia, see Robert Service.

Robert William Service was born into a Scottish family while they were living in Preston, England. He was schooled in Scotland, attending Hillhead High School in Glasgow. He moved to Canada at the age of 21 when he gave up his job working in a Glasgow bank, and traveled to Vancouver Island, British Columbia with his Buffalo Bill outfit and dreams of becoming a cowboy.

He drifted around western North America, taking and quitting a series of jobs. Hired by the Canadian Bank of Commerce, he worked in a number of its branches before being posted to the branch in Whitehorse (not Dawson) in the Yukon Territory in 1904, six years after the Klondike Gold Rush. Inspired by the vast beauty of the Yukon wilderness, Service began writing poetry about the things he saw.

Conversations with locals led him to write about things he hadn't seen, many of which hadn't actually happened, as well. He did not set foot in Dawson City until 1908, arriving in the Klondike ten years after the Gold Rush, but his renown as a writer was already established.

For more information, please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_W._Service.

Reviews

[Caleb M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Robert Service's amazing collection had many enjoyable tales portrayed in his poetry. Some of them are quite memorable such as "The Cremation of Sam McGee, Bessie's Boil, and The Spell of Yukon" measuring from comedic to philosophic all meant to impact the perspective of the readers. The way he writes every detail and word even if it occasionally feels slightly slang is inspirational because he was a prospector during the gold rush. Although please note he does use explicit words in a couple of his poems but they are few and far in between. I give this a rating of 5 out of 5 because I had so much enjoyment reading each well-written tale and was surprised about how different one was from the next. His poems are inspirational and even if anyone is not familiar with him then I wish to invite you to pick up and read a couple of his poems. Definitely well worth the read and enjoyed every last bit of it.

[William Schram · Rating 4 out of 5]

Robert Service was a British-Canadian poet whose poems focused on the Yukon. The lust for gold and the beauty of the land is represented in his works. I bought the book in Skagway, Alaska, in a gift shop.

The Very Best of Robert Service is an anthology, so the table of contents is in alphabetical order rather than printed order. I have no complaints about the book. The art is by Alaskan artist Jon Van Zyle, and it complements the poems well. Furthermore, it includes the poems I know from Robert Service. Admittedly, I only know a few from other poetry anthologies.

Service’s poetry has a distinct rhythm. Most of his poems were about the Yukon as I mentioned, but Service also wrote about other events. The Hiroshima bombing stands out in my mind.

Thanks for reading my review, and see you next time.

[Becky Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

My grandpa loved Robert Service.

[Joshua Dahlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was pretty solid poetry. I'm not a super huge fan of poetry. I got to say it made sense and it flowed nicely.

[Phin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Robert Service's Best of Robert Service is one of the best poetry books I have ever written. Robert Service being an avid outdoorsman wrote a majority of his poems are either about or set in the outdoors. A few of my favourite poems include; " The Creamation of Sam Magee" " The Shooting of Dan Mcgrew" and "Grin". The author has poems that are very different. Some Rhyme, some do not. A few are happy poems throughout. And a few are very saddening. I would recommend this book to anybody who is interested in the outdoors or are interested in poetry.

[Stefano · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good surprise found up there in Alaska.
Non the best poet possible in terms of technique, but true words that come from life.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

As far as poetry goes, this is one of the best.

Laugh out loud funny.

A nice look at Alaska and more poignant look at WWI.