The Cremation of Sam McGee - Hardcover

Service, Robert W.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0688069037 ISBN 13: 9780688069032

Publisher: William Morrow & Co, 1987

Synopsis

Constantly suffering from the cold, Sam makes his companion on the Arctic trail promise to cremate him when he dies, which the companion does--to his great surprise

About this title

About the Author:

Robert Service was born in England and earned a worldwide reputation as a poet of the Arctic. He died in Europe in 1958.

Review:

Ballad by Robert Service, published in Canada in 1907 in Songs of a Sourdough (U.S. title, The Spell of the Yukon, and Other Verses). A popular success upon publication, this exaggerated folktale about a pair of a Yukon gold miners was reprinted 15 times in its first year. In the ballad, set in the icy wilds of northwestern Canada, the title character dies after asking the narrator to cremate his body rather than bury it. After placing the body in a blazing furnace, the narrator takes a last look into the fire and hears McGee urge him to close the door before the heat escapes. The ballad has remained a favorite recitation piece because of its internal rhymes, driving rhythms, and macabre irony. -- The Merriam-Webster Encyclopedia of Literature

About this edition

• Publisher: William Morrow & Co
• Publication date: 1987
• ISBN 10: 0688069037
• ISBN 13: 9780688069032
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 4
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Harrison Ted