Heart o' the North
And when I come to the dim trail-end,
I who have been Life's rover,
This is all I would ask, my friend,
Over and over and over:
A little space on a stony hill
With never another near me,
Sky o' the North that's vast and still,
With a single star to cheer me;
Star that gleams on a moss-grey stone
Graven by those who love me —
There would I lie alone, alone,
With a single pine above me;
Pine that the north wind whinneys through —
Oh, I have been Life's lover!
But there I'd lie and listen to
Eternity passing over.
The Scribe's Prayer
When from my fumbling hand the tired pen falls,
And in the twilight weary droops my head;
While to my quiet heart a still voice calls,
Calls me to join my kindred of the Dead:
Grant that I may, O Lord, ere rest be mine,
Write to Thy praise one radiant, ringing line.
For all of worth that in this clay abides,
The leaping rapture and the ardent flame,
The hope, the high resolve, the faith that guides:
All, all is Thine, and liveth in Thy name:
Lord, have I dallied with the sacred fire!
Lord, have I trailed Thy glory in the mire!
E'en as a toper from the dram-shop reeling,
Sees in his garret's blackness, dazzling fair,
All that he might have been, and, heart-sick, kneeling,
Sobs in the passion of a vast despair:
So my ideal self haunts me alway —
When the accounting comes, how shall I pay?
For in the dark I grope, nor understand;
And in my heart fight selfishness and sin:
Yet, Lord, I do not seek Thy helping hand;
Rather let me my own salvation win:
Let me through strife and penitential pain
Onward and upward to the heights attain.
Yea, let me live my life, its meaning seek;
Bear myself fitly in the ringing fight;
Strive to be strong that I may aid the weak;
Dare to be true — O God! the Light, the Light!
Cometh the Dark so soon. I've mocked Thy Word;
Yet do I know Thy Love: have mercy, Lord. . . .
FINIS
Some of Service's Books of Poetry:
The Spell of the Yukon (1907) a.k.a. Songs of a Sourdough
Ballads of a Cheechako (1909)
[Note: A Sourdough is an old-timer, while a Cheechako is a newbie.]
Rhymes of a Rolling Stone (1912)
Rhymes of a Red Cross Man (1916)
Ballads of a Bohemian (1921)
Bar-Room Ballads (1940)
The Complete Poems (1947?) [This is a compilation of the first six books.]
Songs of a Sunlover
Rhymes of a Roughneck
Lyrics of a Low Brow
Rhymes of a Rebel
The Collected Poems
Songs For My Supper (1953)
Rhymes For My Rags (1956)
Some other books by Robert W. Service:
Novels:
The Trail of '98 — A Northland Romance (1910)
The Pretender
The Poisoned Paradise
The Roughneck
The Master of the Microbe
The House of Fear