Sam McGee is a man from Tennessee who finds himself in the snowy tundra of Alaska searching for gold. Get a curated list of articles sent directly to your email once a week. The characters achieve, in the hands of Service, a stature that belies their humble origins and surroundings. “The Cremation of Sam McGee” includes a number of literary devices that make it more effective as a piece of poetry. C It suggests a tone of distress. Service and his family returned to Europe in 1946 and took up residence in Monte Carlo. In this tradition the poet tells the story using simple language in catchy meter and rhyme scheme. Refer to each style’s convention regarding the best way to format page numbers and retrieval dates. Service makes use of a pun on the word “grisly” (calling to mind the grizzly bear) as he describes the narrator’s wait in the snow while the fire burns up Sam’s remains. Perhaps, a more efficient method when measuring a poet’s skill should reflect upon on how well they showcase poetics … Service represented tensions between nature and culture, and he claimed to espouse nature before all. Production steadily declined after that, until it fell to 5.6 million dollars in 1906. In the following, Mowery examines the poetic style and imagery found in the ballad as well as the poetic techniques used by Robert W. Service. Poe uses both spoken word and the thoughts of his narrator to tell the story. ." The narrator has given his word to Sam and then endures severe hardships in order to keep his word. Form “The Cremation of Sam McGee” is a ballad. earnest. Choose six words with the best connotation to best represent the setting of The Cremation of Sam McGee. On the other hand, is the searing effect a combination of a fine poet, but also the aid of a certain poetic form? It tells it’s story through internal and external rhyming couplets Now Sam McGee was from Tennessee, where the cotton blooms and blows. The speaker appears to be driven to the brink of madness. The stamp depicts Sam McGee grinning out from an open fire on Lake Lebarge in the Yukon. Apparently this cremation happened on the "marge" (that just … is an elegant poem crafted at the skilled hands of a celebrated Canadian poet Robert W. Service, but the measurement of skill in a poet’s ability should surpass the common elements of poetry like imagery, simile, diction, and metaphor. When they arrive at “the marge of Lake Lebarge” the narrator finds an old, derelict steam boat, an image of death and ruin. Instead, they offer background or other information that helps the reader understand the literary work more completely. Now Sam McGee was from Tennessee, where the cotton blooms and blows. Service’s ballad-form poem sets up a rhyme scheme (. ) FURT…, Omen Whether Sam uses this method of keeping warm is not clear. I https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/cremation-sam-mcgee, "The Cremation of Sam McGee SOURCES Encyclopedia.com. In 1940, Service and his family returned to Canada, but they soon moved to Hollywood to be close to the film industry. For nine months the book topped the best-seller lists in the United States. T stuffed in Sam McGee. "' The Original Homepage of Robert W. Service, www.ude.net/service/service.html (March 20, 2000). He has written numerous essays for the Gale Group. SOURCES The speaker describes the cold in stark, uncompromising terms—it “stabbed like a driven nail” and froze eyelashes shut. While they are important to the telling of the story, they are not directly connected to it. The concluding stanza, a repeat of the intro, leaves that rhythm in the mind as one ends the poem. Although not directly stated, it appears Cap is preparing to retrieve Sam’s ashes as his final act of mourning. Rather, he learned of the 1898 Gold Rush through conversations with old-timers and the research of old records. But, the use of the verb “stuffed” in the last line of stanza 11 and the frenetic action of tearing out planks and lighting a fire begin the transition from the somber to the comic. Thus, he requests to be cremated. The US and Spain have completed their war, but a Mexican Revolution is brewing, there is unrest in the Balkans, and Korea is annexed by Japan. Neither the Lusitania nor the Titantic has sunk yet, and the World has not yet begun “the war to end all wars.” Things will become more complicated in a few short years, but Service can entertain his fascination for the Yukon, including his famous two thousand mile solo canoe trip before relocating to France and becoming a war correspondent for the Toronto Star during World War I. but is there another element at play with this piece that sears the poem into one’s memory? . Even when you’re as tough as the guys in "The Cremation of Sam McGee" seem to be, it’s a pretty rough life up in the Yukon. The opening and closing lines follow the same metrical and rhyming patterns of the narrative stanzas, but Service reconfigures them into eight-line stanzas and puts them in italics to create a mood of mystery and suspense at the beginning, and comic irony at the end. An unnamed critic discusses Service’s style, stating that, although it shows considerable skill and vitality, the poetry deals “too rawly” with the harsh realities of life in the Yukon. Long distances between pockets of civilization and extreme loneliness also factor into how one survives in this environment. A little more than eighteen months later, he headed for California. ." The Christmas Day trip over the Dawson trail begins the action of the poem in a bitter, menacing cold. But most of the feel of the north is revealed through the constant references to the cold—the cold that “stabbed like a driven nail,” the cold that froze their lashes shut, and the cold that froze the grinning, departed Sam McGee on the way to the Lake. It was published in 1907 in Songs of a Sourdough. The cold and frightening images of the opening stanza have been completely transformed even though the words are repeated in the conclusion. Service resigned from the bank at the end of March, 1896, to emigrate to North America. Service wrote “The Cremation of Sam McGee” while working as a bank teller in the Yukon Territory several years after the gold rush of 1898. On a bitter cold Christmas Day, Sam exacts a promise from Cap: to cremate his remains when he dies. Just getting around is a chore, and it seems like you hurt pretty much all the time. Cap’s arrival at the shores of Lake Lebarge signals a shift in mood and action. The defrosting continues and increases when Cap mutters, “I’ll just take a peep inside / I guess he’s cooked, and it’s time I looked.” By the time Cap opens the door to reveal Sam sitting in the middle of the furnace, it should be no surprise to the reader. The Cremation of Sam McGee has a narrative structure because it tells a story. “The only society I like,” he once said, “is that which is rough and tough—and the tougher the better. What is an example of personificationin this poem? The annual output of gold reached a peak of 22 million dollars in 1900. Imagism flourished in Britain and in the United States for a brief period that is generally considered to be somewhere between 1909 a…, The Creative Center: Narrative Description, The Criminal Jury System Is the Best Means to Secure Justice, The Criminal Life of Archibaldo de la Cruz, The Criswell College: Narrative Description, http://www.interchange.ubc.ca/service/index.htm, https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/cremation-sam-mcgee. In 1896, gold was discovered in the Klondike River. Kirkpatrick, St. James Press, 1991. He is traveling with his good friend Cap, and together they are mushing their way along the Dawson Trail. Vintage photographs from the Klondike days add a sense of realism. “The Cremation of Sam McGee” is a popular ballad, meant to entertain and amuse readers, but a theme about the meaning of friendship and respecting and honouring the wishes—however gruesome—of a friend does emerge from the plot. No one should underestimate the brilliance of a poet, Service included, but it is worth noting that “The Cremation of Sam Mcgee” would not be as strong in a different poetic form. The frozen corpse of Sam McGee “talks” to Cap and listens (“harkens”) when he sings to it. Why is it ironic the author describes Sam McGee as poem? Then, copy and paste the text into your bibliography or works cited list. I cremated Sam McGee. Before the poem’s climax, Service takes a brief pause, a two-stanza caesura. The overplayed sudden cry of “Here … is my cre-ma-tor-eum” lightens the mood. Despite their fatigue, they are pushed onward to help the narrator fulfill the promise made to Sam to cremate his remains. What does the hot sweat on the cheek of the narrator represent? An important aspect of Service’s style is the generous use of dialogue. While the plot in the ballad form is more critical than its cast of characters, by the poet incorporating character dialogue (unique to the ballad form), a sense of personality is given. “a folk tale of unquestioned natural vitality.” Phelps further distinguished between readers with literary pretensions (who dismissed Service’s sentimentality, metronomic rhythms, simplicity, and limited range) and those who used these same criteria to praise his verse for being memorable, recitable, and sympathetic to ordinary people. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY A tale of travel in the north woods would not be complete without mention of the dogs that pull the sleds. Therefore, that information is unavailable for most Encyclopedia.com content. The promise on its face first seems distasteful, maybe even gruesome. To the people he was great. sung by Europeans in the early fourteenth century. "The Cremation of Sam McGee He was deliberately anti-intellectual and did not include in his verse obscure imagery and hidden meanings. Peter Viereck 1948 Comparable to the traveler who stopped at nothing from keeping his promise, the speaker of “The Cremation of Sam McGee” is left alone, and he knows he has made a promise that he must keep. For Service, these mini-choruses set the tone and establish the mood of the verse they bracket. Sam has to depend on Cap’s loyalty to follow through on his last request. Instead, it appears this poem deals more with the power of friendship and loyalty, and the meaning of making a promise. It is clear from Cap’s thoughts that loyalty is what compels him to honor Sam’s wish to be cremated. The word “dancing” should stand out as providing an under-current of joy and happiness to contrast with the bitter cold and the strangeness of Sam’s last request. Sources Use a camping supplies catalog (such as L.L.Bean’s or Cabela’s) to determine weight as well as cost. Why is it such a successful poem even so many years later? Cite this article Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. Sam seems depressed, moans, looks “ghastly pale,” and becomes incoherent (“rave[s] all day”). Why he left his home in the South to roam 'round the Pole, God only knows. First, Sam states that he will “cash in this trip,” adding, “I guess,” which suggests more finality than uncertainty. … Encyclopedia.com gives you the ability to cite reference entries and articles according to common styles from the Modern Language Association (MLA), The Chicago Manual of Style, and the American Psychological Association (APA). (A "sourdough", in this sense, is a resident of the Yukon.) The continuing appeal of the poems about Sam McGee and Dan McGrew, however, rests not in any intellectual paradigm they employ but in the sly humor and metrical regularity that initially made them so readily adaptable to parlor performance. "The Cremation of Sam McGee" is among the most famous of Robert W. Service's (1874–1958) poems. Sam’s earlier insistence for cremation is also transformed from a morbid request to a signal that nothing untoward will happen. STUDY. A website featuring the work of Tom Byrne, an actor who has performed the works of Robert W. Service for more than 20 years, can be found at. This section begins by suggesting the oppressive bleakness of the previous nine stanzas will continue. The activities of stanza 12 echo the despair of stanzas 6,7 and 8, with scowling heavens, howling winds, and icy cold. This poem has a very artistic look on wording, imagery, and emotion and does not hold back from expressing all of them. Service does this well in the ballad form, and it’s for all the reasons discussed above that the poem is known as an important work of literature. Out on the derelict (dead) boat he builds a fire into which he puts Sam. The stanza is repeated at the close of the ballad, and thereby frames it. They don’t complain, but Sam not only complains, he “whimpers.”. “There wasn’t a breath in that land of death” is the most chilling and direct reference, not only to the death of Sam, but the deaths of the many “sourdoughs” claimed by the Yukon cold. An obvious reflection of Service’s youth in the Yukon is much reliance on images of the north county, including the northern lights (the Aurora Borealis), sparkling stars, scowling heavens, and the sky seen through the smoke of a fire. Throughout the poem, Cap is active, moving across the ice and snow. The final act of “letting go” takes place over stanzas 11, 12, and 13. The use of speakers in this way descends from the practice of Edgar Allan Poe, especially in his poem, The Raven. Extracting gold from the Klondike and Yukon Rivers in less than favorable weather conditions offered challenges to the “sourdoughs” who came to seek their fortunes, and provided material for writers like Robert W. Service and Jack London. Some never came home at all. © 2019 Encyclopedia.com | All rights reserved. Introduction are not filled with deep symbolism; rather, they are straightforward explications of a story, serious or comedic. The deathly cold is but one element. What makes "The Cremation of Sam McGee" a narrative poem? It is this set of paired couplets in each quatrain that drives home every profound detail of the poem, keeps the reader tied into the narrative story, and paints a canvas with imagery in the mind’s eye of the reader or reciter. Instead, Service turns the tables with the image of Sam sitting in the middle of the fire, telling Cap to shut the door so as not to let in the cold. Sam’s last wish was for his friend Cap to cremate him, and Cap doesn’t quit until Sam’s promise is fulfilled. INTRODUCTION Yes, Sam McGee dies in the poem "The Cremation of Sam McGee". Cap prepares the “cre-mator-eum,” unceremoniously “stuff[s] in Sam McGee,” and removes himself from the place because he does not “like to hear him sizzle so.” Having “wrestled with fear” and “sick with dread,” Cap checks to see what has happened to the body of Sam. Edited by W. H. New, University of British Columbia. “The Cremation of Sam McGee” is an elegant poem crafted at the skilled hands of a celebrated Canadian poet Robert W. Service, but the measurement of skill in a poet’s ability should surpass the common elements of poetry like imagery, simile, diction, and metaphor. He appears to have no particular destination, but no particular place he can use for shelter or refuge either. The flow and uses of gold became much more controlled than in those frenzied “Wild West” days that glamorized the settling of once open territory. 1956 There is also a helpful glossary of the more exotic words and phrases Service uses in his poems. Sound clips are available at the website. By the time Service publishes “The Cremation of Sam McGee” and embarks on his new career as a writer of verse, Klondike fever has evaporated and the attention of the world has turned to other matters. Cap finds Sam’s frozen corpse on the sled at the end of stanza 6. Also, there is a pessimistic tone because Sam McGee believes he is not going to make it. The strength of this poem lies within the poetic form, the ballad. The term “moil” in the opening lines carries with it the meaning of digging under wet, dirty conditions. STYLE It concerns the cremation of a prospector who freezes to death near Lake Laberge (spelled "Lebarge" by Service), Yukon, Canada, as told by the man who cremates him. Also there is reference to that hottest of all places, Hell, where Sam said he would “sooner live” than in the cold northern parts of Canada. What is the tone of the Cremation of Sam McGee? In stanzas 4 and 5, Sam refers to “cash[ing] in” and makes his “last request.” The fear of the “icy grave” prompts him to exact the promise that Cap will “cremate [his] last remains.”. A It relates to the strange things that happen in the midnight sun. The first thing that we might want to discuss is rhyme scheme. The very fact that days and nights are much different than they are in the lower 48 creates an atmosphere of disorientation. We’ve got Robert W. Service to thank for that. The poem’s speaker tells us a story about his friend, Sam McGee, who freezes to death on the trail. By nightfall, Sam is a frozen corpse. Service prepares the reader for Sam’s demise. In addition to his writing, Service entertained by reciting the works of Rudyard Kipling, Ernest Lawrence Thayer (“Casey at the Bat”), as well as his own rhymes and ballads. Long nights, lone firelight, and dogs howling indicate the gloom. In these stanzas, Sam tells the speaker (“Cap”) about his fear of being buried in an icy grave and makes Cap promise to cremate his corpse when he dies. Sam tells Cap to shut the door so as not to let in the cold. When he sees a timber boat nearby, however, … For Cap, that means to keep moving. When Cap does stop for the night, he wraps himself tight in his robes and buries himself in the snow. Wiles teaches and writes in the shadow of Vermont’s Green Mountains. The stories in Service’s ballads are very easy to follow. He did not tell the night watchman he was coming, and the startled watchman shot at Service, missing his head by inches. All the Arctic cold of the beginning of the poem has given way to humor and the warmth of Sam’s personality. It’s not delivery, its Delissio, Not only will we pay you with a cheque, we’ll pay you with “exposure”, As soon as eyes read, or ears hear, that famous opening line, the brain slides into its automatic rhythm. Search this website. Poem Text The Cremation of Sam McGee Summary. Poetry for Students. rising action. The first nine stanzas of “The Cremation of Sam McGee” discuss at length the problem of survival in the Arctic wilderness. This element of redemption and salvation negates the power of death even in the hostile and unforgiving cold of the Arctic. (January 12, 2021). . Sam’s body changes into a “load” and a “thing” that is “loathed” in stanza 8 and is “quiet clay” and a grinning, “hateful thing” by stanza 9. Author Biography As soon as eyes read, or ears hear, that famous opening line, the brain slides into its automatic rhythm. Research the environmental impact of each of these processes. The first line is a good example of this. In other verses, like “The Shooting of Dan McGrew,” several speakers are active in telling the tale. Conflict (nature) it is bitter cold-Sam thinks he may die and does not want to be buried in ice. Compile a list of what a modern day prospector might need for a six-month journey into the Yukon wilderness. In 1904 he was transferred to Whitehorse in the Yukon Territory, and, at the end of the summer of 1906 he became the branch’s teller. Into this blaze Cap stuffs the body of Sam McGee. There are strange things done in the midnight sun - The Academy of American Poets is the largest membership-based nonprofit organization fostering an appreciation for contemporary poetry and supporting American poets. In 1910, Service made his way to Toronto and New York to arrange for the publication of his novel, The Trail of ‘98. Romanticism as a literary movement lasted from 1798, with the publication of Lyrical Ballads to some time between the passage of the first Re…, Imagism He hated the cold and a man promised him that he would cremate his body so that his spirit would be warm. FRANK BIDART What information do we early in the poem that is important to the plot? He is pleased to see it and determines to use its furnace as the crematorium. Along with “The Shooting of Dan McGrew” and other poems for the book Songs of a Sourdough, “The Cremation of Sam McGee” exhibits the elements that mark Service’s style: internal rhymes, stressed rhythms, a dash of stereotypical Yukon machismo (“manliness”), ironic and slightly macabre humor, and a smattering of Klondike slang and jargon. “It wasn’t much fun,” adds the speaker, and the other mush-ers recognize the hazards of this way of life. Instead, the poem focuses its attention on surviving the cold. How does the poet's use of the words "live in hell" affect the poem? Service deserves a high-level of praise for his level of poetic skill, showcased in his legendary piece. Ignoring the eight-line opening, the poem follows a regular pattern of four-line stanzas composed of two rhyming couplets. The concluding stanza, a repeat of the intro, leaves that rhythm in the mind as one ends the poem. Start studying The Cremation of Sam Mcgee. To emigrate to north America resonate with the Canadian Postal Service paid tribute Robert! Stanzas 6,7 and 8, with scowling heavens, howling winds, and it is established through the into... Mcgee is the name for burning a dead body to ashes, rather burying... For the night, he “ whimpers. ” Cap uses planks and coal to. Is always cold in stark, uncompromising terms—it “ stabbed like a nail. For Students, Gale, 2001 style below, and copy the text for your bibliography structural. Mcgee in an essay for poetry for Students, Gale, 2001 hands... Varicose veins, Service and his mushing companion, Sam McGee believes he is with. 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