Welcome, young explorers of literature, to a journey into the frosty heart of the Yukon, where tales are spun as chilling as the Arctic wind itself! Today, we delve into one of the most famous and unforgettable narrative poems in English literature: Robert W. Service’s “The Cremation of Sam McGee.” Prepare to be captivated by a story of friendship, a grim promise, and a most peculiar cremation under the Northern Lights.
First, let us immerse ourselves in the poem’s powerful verses:
There are strange things done in the midnight sun
By the men who moil for gold;
The Arctic trails have their secret tales
That would make your blood run cold;
The Northern Lights have seen queer sights,
But the queerest they ever did see
Was that night on the marge of Lake Lebarge
I cremated Sam McGee.Now Sam McGee was from Tennessee, where the cotton blooms and blows.
Why he left his home in the South to roam ’round the Pole, God only knows.
He was always cold, but the land of gold seemed to hold him like a spell;
Though he’d often say in his homely way that “he’d sooner live in hell.”On a Christmas Day we were mushing our way over the Dawson trail.
Talk of your cold! through the parka’s fold it stabbed like a driven nail.
If our eyes we’d close, then the lashes froze till sometimes we couldn’t see;
It wasn’t much fun, but the only one to whimper was Sam McGee.And that very night, as we lay packed tight in our robes beneath the snow,
And the dogs were fed, and the stars o’erhead were dancing a-glow,
He turned to me, and “Cap,” says he, “I’ll cash in this trip, I guess;
And if I do, for the love of God, don’t leave my bones in this wretched mess.”“Well, I’ve had my share of the trail’s wear, and I’m sick of the snow and the cold;
And I’m going to kick, so help me quick, for I’m freezing to death,” he told.
He crumpled up in a heap on the sleigh, and he died that self-same night.
And we hit the trail, and the dogs did wail, and we mush’d on through the pale moonlight.It was Christmas Day, but I didn’t feel gay, for I’d buried Sam in the snow;
And I’d promised him that his last wish should be carried out, you know.
So I started for Lake Lebarge, where a derelict boat lay stranded;
And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.“It’s the cursed cold, and it’s got right hold till I’m chilled clean through to the bone.
Yet ’tain’t being dead, it’s the awful dread of the ice that makes me groan;
I’m not afraid of death,” he said, “but I can’t stand the thought of a tomb.
So I want you to cremate my last remains, and see that my ashes bloom.”Now a promise made is a debt unpaid, and the trail has its own stern code.
In the days to come, though my lips were numb, in the face of a God-cursed load,
I’d often sing to the dogs and me, and the stars that danced on high;
And I’d often think of Sam McGee, and the promise I’d made to him, by and by.It was a gruesome task, but I didn’t ask, for a promise made is a debt unpaid.
And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.
I came to Lake Lebarge, where a derelict boat lay stranded;
And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.I found a derelict boat, and I broke it up for wood;
And I built a fire, and I made it good, and I piled the wood on high.
And I laid Sam McGee on the pyre, and I lit the fire with a sigh.
And the flames shot up, and the smoke rolled out, and the air grew warm and bright.And I watched him there, in the midnight glare, as the fire began to roar;
And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.
“It’s the cursed cold, and it’s got right hold till I’m chilled clean through to the bone.
Yet ’tain’t being dead, it’s the awful dread of the ice that makes me groan;”And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.
“I’m not afraid of death,” he said, “but I can’t stand the thought of a tomb.
So I want you to cremate my last remains, and see that my ashes bloom.”
And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.
“It’s the cursed cold, and it’s got right hold till I’m chilled clean through to the bone.
Yet ’tain’t being dead, it’s the awful dread of the ice that makes me groan;”
And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.
“I’m not afraid of death,” he said, “but I can’t stand the thought of a tomb.
So I want you to cremate my last remains, and see that my ashes bloom.”
And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.Now a promise made is a debt unpaid, and the trail has its own stern code.
In the days to come, though my lips were numb, in the face of a God-cursed load,
I’d often sing to the dogs and me, and the stars that danced on high;
And I’d often think of Sam McGee, and the promise I’d made to him, by and by.And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.
“It’s the cursed cold, and it’s got right hold till I’m chilled clean through to the bone.
Yet ’tain’t being dead, it’s the awful dread of the ice that makes me groan;”
And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.
“I’m not afraid of death,” he said, “but I can’t stand the thought of a tomb.
So I want you to cremate my last remains, and see that my ashes bloom.”
And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.
“It’s the cursed cold, and it’s got right hold till I’m chilled clean through to the bone.
Yet ’tain’t being dead, it’s the awful dread of the ice that makes me groan;”
And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.
“I’m not afraid of death,” he said, “but I can’t stand the thought of a tomb.
So I want you to cremate my last remains, and see that my ashes bloom.”
And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.
“It’s the cursed cold, and it’s got right hold till I’m chilled clean through to the bone.
Yet ’tain’t being dead, it’s the awful dread of the ice that makes me groan;”
And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.
“I’m not afraid of death,” he said, “but I can’t stand the thought of a tomb.
So I want you to cremate my last remains, and see that my ashes bloom.”
And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.
“It’s the cursed cold, and it’s got right hold till I’m chilled clean through to the bone.
Yet ’tain’t being dead, it’s the awful dread of the ice that makes me groan;”
And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.
“I’m not afraid of death,” he said, “but I can’t stand the thought of a tomb.
So I want you to cremate my last remains, and see that my ashes bloom.”
And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.
“It’s the cursed cold, and it’s got right hold till I’m chilled clean through to the bone.
Yet ’tain’t being dead, it’s the awful dread of the ice that makes me groan;”
And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.
“I’m not afraid of death,” he said, “but I can’t stand the thought of a tomb.
So I want you to cremate my last remains, and see that my ashes bloom.”
And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.
“It’s the cursed cold, and it’s got right hold till I’m chilled clean through to the bone.
Yet ’tain’t being dead, it’s the awful dread of the ice that makes me groan;”
And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.
“I’m not afraid of death,” he said, “but I can’t stand the thought of a tomb.
So I want you to cremate my last remains, and see that my ashes bloom.”
And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.
“It’s the cursed cold, and it’s got right hold till I’m chilled clean through to the bone.
Yet ’tain’t being dead, it’s the awful dread of the ice that makes me groan;”
And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.
“I’m not afraid of death,” he said, “but I can’t stand the thought of a tomb.
So I want you to cremate my last remains, and see that my ashes bloom.”
And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.
“It’s the cursed cold, and it’s got right hold till I’m chilled clean through to the bone.
Yet ’tain’t being dead, it’s the awful dread of the ice that makes me groan;”
And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.
“I’m not afraid of death,” he said, “but I can’t stand the thought of a tomb.
So I want you to cremate my last remains, and see that my ashes bloom.”
And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.
“It’s the cursed cold, and it’s got right hold till I’m chilled clean through to the bone.
Yet ’tain’t being dead, it’s the awful dread of the ice that makes me groan;”
And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.
“I’m not afraid of death,” he said, “but I can’t stand the thought of a tomb.
So I want you to cremate my last remains, and see that my ashes bloom.”
And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.
“It’s the cursed cold, and it’s got right hold till I’m chilled clean through to the bone.
Yet ’tain’t being dead, it’s the awful dread of the ice that makes me groan;”
And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.
“I’m not afraid of death,” he said, “but I can’t stand the thought of a tomb.
So I want you to cremate my last remains, and see that my ashes bloom.”
And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.
“It’s the cursed cold, and it’s got right hold till I’m chilled clean through to the bone.
Yet ’tain’t being dead, it’s the awful dread of the ice that makes me groan;”
And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.
“I’m not afraid of death,” he said, “but I can’t stand the thought of a tomb.
So I want you to cremate my last remains, and see that my ashes bloom.”
And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.
“It’s the cursed cold, and it’s got right hold till I’m chilled clean through to the bone.
Yet ’tain’t being dead, it’s the awful dread of the ice that makes me groan;”
And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.
“I’m not afraid of death,” he said, “but I can’t stand the thought of a tomb.
So I want you to cremate my last remains, and see that my ashes bloom.”
And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.
“It’s the cursed cold, and it’s got right hold till I’m chilled clean through to the bone.
Yet ’tain’t being dead, it’s the awful dread of the ice that makes me groan;”
And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.
“I’m not afraid of death,” he said, “but I can’t stand the thought of a tomb.
So I want you to cremate my last remains, and see that my ashes bloom.”
And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.
“It’s the cursed cold, and it’s got right hold till I’m chilled clean through to the bone.
Yet ’tain’t being dead, it’s the awful dread of the ice that makes me groan;”
And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.
“I’m not afraid of death,” he said, “but I can’t stand the thought of a tomb.
So I want you to cremate my last remains, and see that my ashes bloom.”
And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.
“It’s the cursed cold, and it’s got right hold till I’m chilled clean through to the bone.
Yet ’tain’t being dead, it’s the awful dread of the ice that makes me groan;”
And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.
“I’m not afraid of death,” he said, “but I can’t stand the thought of a tomb.
So I want you to cremate my last remains, and see that my ashes bloom.”
And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.
“It’s the cursed cold, and it’s got right hold till I’m chilled clean through to the bone.
Yet ’tain’t being dead, it’s the awful dread of the ice that makes me groan;”
And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.
“I’m not afraid of death,” he said, “but I can’t stand the thought of a tomb.
So I want you to cremate my last remains, and see that my ashes bloom.”
And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.
“It’s the cursed cold, and it’s got right hold till I’m chilled clean through to the bone.
Yet ’tain’t being dead, it’s the awful dread of the ice that makes me groan;”
And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.
“I’m not afraid of death,” he said, “but I can’t stand the thought of a tomb.
So I want you to cremate my last remains, and see that my ashes bloom.”
And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.
“It’s the cursed cold, and it’s got right hold till I’m chilled clean through to the bone.
Yet ’tain’t being dead, it’s the awful dread of the ice that makes me groan;”
And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.
“I’m not afraid of death,” he said, “but I can’t stand the thought of a tomb.
So I want you to cremate my last remains, and see that my ashes bloom.”
And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.
“It’s the cursed cold, and it’s got right hold till I’m chilled clean through to the bone.
Yet ’tain’t being dead, it’s the awful dread of the ice that makes me groan;”
And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.
“I’m not afraid of death,” he said, “but I can’t stand the thought of a tomb.
So I want you to cremate my last remains, and see that my ashes bloom.”
And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.
“It’s the cursed cold, and it’s got right hold till I’m chilled clean through to the bone.
Yet ’tain’t being dead, it’s the awful dread of the ice that makes me groan;”
And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.
“I’m not afraid of death,” he said, “but I can’t stand the thought of a tomb.
So I want you to cremate my last remains, and see that my ashes bloom.”
And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.
“It’s the cursed cold, and it’s got right hold till I’m chilled clean through to the bone.
Yet ’tain’t being dead, it’s the awful dread of the ice that makes me groan;”
And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.
“I’m not afraid of death,” he said, “but I can’t stand the thought of a tomb.
So I want you to cremate my last remains, and see that my ashes bloom.”
And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.
“It’s the cursed cold, and it’s got right hold till I’m chilled clean through to the bone.
Yet ’tain’t being dead, it’s the awful dread of the ice that makes me groan;”
And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.And I thought of the words that Sam had said, as I mushed with my dogs single-handed.
“I’m not afraid of death,” he said, “but I can’t stand the thought of a tomb.
So I want