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The Spell of the Yukon and Other Verses (Dodo Press) Paperback - 2008

by Robert W. Service


About this book


The Spell of the Yukon and other Verses was originally published under the name of Song of a Sourdough outside the U.S., before other verses were added. The collection of poetry and prose narrates the world through the eyes of Robert Service, a Scottish poet and writer. The Book contains well known verses about the Klondike Gold Rush in the Yukon a decade earlier, particularly the long, humorous ballads, "The Shooting of Dan McGrew" and "The Cremation of Sam McGee." His work portrays the complex relationship between a growing industrial society and the natural beauty of the land. 

I am the land that listens, I am the land that broods;

Steeped in eternal beauty, crystalline waters and woods.

Long have I waited lonely, shunned as a thing accurst,

Monstrous, moody, pathetic, the last of the lands and the first;

Visioning camp-fires at twilight, sad with a longing forlorn,

Feeling my womb o'er-pregnant with the seed of cities unborn.


From the publisher

Robert William Service (1874-1958) was a poet and writer. He is mostly well known for his writings on the Canadian North, including the poems The Shooting of Dan McGrew and The Cremation of Sam McGee. Inspired by the vast beauty of the Yukon wilderness, Service began writing poetry about the things he saw. He collected enough poems for a book, which was published in 1907 in North America as The Spell of the Yukon and Other Verses and in England as The Songs of a Sourdough. This made Service wealthy and he became known as the "Canadian Kipling." During World War I he worked as an ambulance driver for the Canadian Red Cross, as well as working as a war correspondent for the Canadian government. He wrote a number of poems about the war, many appearing in a new book, Rhymes of a Red-Cross Man (1916). Amongst his other works are: Ballads of a Cheechako (1909), The Trail of '98: A Northland Romance (1910), Rhymes of a Rolling Stone (1912), Ballads of a Bohemian (1921) and an autobiography, Ploughman of the Moon: An Adventure Into Memory (1945).

First Edition Identification

Edward Stern & Co. published a First Edition, First Printing in Philadelphia, 1907. Published prior to the Barse & Hopkins edition. The hardcover is bound in ribbed cloth, with pictorial paper overlay and gilt titling.


Barse & Hopkins published a First edition, First Printing in New York, 1907. The hardcover is bound in green cloth with gold gilt.  


Details

  • Title The Spell of the Yukon and Other Verses (Dodo Press)
  • Author Robert W. Service
  • Binding Paperback
  • Pages 64
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Dodo Press
  • Date 2008-12
  • ISBN 9781409916482 / 1409916480
  • Weight 0.23 lbs (0.10 kg)
  • Dimensions 9 x 6 x 0.15 in (22.86 x 15.24 x 0.38 cm)
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The Spell of the Yukon and Other Verses (Dodo Press)

by Robert W. Service

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  • Paperback
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Paperback
ISBN 13
9781409916482
ISBN 10
1409916480
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Description:
Dodo Press, 2008-12-19. Paperback. Used:Good.
Item Price
NZ$41.18
FREE shipping to USA