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Robert W. Service

Robert W. Service

Convicts Love Canaries

Dick’s dead! It was the Polack guard
Put powdered glass into his cage
When I was tramping round the yard,—
I could have killed him in my rage.
I slugged him with that wrench I stole:
That’s why I’m rotting in the Hole.
 
Dick’s dead! Sure I wish I was too.
His honey breast, his lacy claws
I kissed and cried, for well I knew
They murdered him. I cursed because
He was my only chum on earth . . .
Oh how he cheered me with his mirth!
 
Dick’s dead! I know he cared for me.
Being I’m Irish I love song,
And there was heaven in his glee;
I’d bless his heart the dour day long.
I’d let him flutter round the cell;
He’d light upon my hand . . . Oh hell!
 
Dick’s dead! They’ve thrown me in the Hole.
To break our spirits how they try!
My bed a plank, blind as a mole,
Sure I’ll be nuts before I die . . .
Here in the night, dark as the Pit
I’m seeing sunny wings aflit.
Here in the silence, hark his song!
—Poor Dick! Oh Christ, how long, how long!

Altre opere di Robert W. Service...
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Said I: “See yon vast heaven shin… What earthly sight diviner? Before such radiant Design Why doubt Designer?” Said he: “Design is just a though…
The Womb

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Victory Stuff

What d’ye think, lad; what d’ye th… As the roaring crowds go by? As the banners flare and the brass… And the great guns rend the sky? As the women laugh like they’d all…
The Joy of Being Poor

Let others sing of gold and gear,… But oh, the days when I was poor,… When every dawn was like a gem, so… And I had but a single coat, and… When I would feast right royally…
 1
The Goat and I

Each sunny day upon my way A goat I pass; He has a beard of silver grey, A bell of brass. And all the while I am in sight
The Dreamer

The lone man gazed and gazed upon… His sweat, his blood, the wage of… But now how sweet, how doubly swee… All gay and gleamy to the campfire… The evening sky was sinister and c…
Room 4: The Painter Chap

He gives me such a bold and curiou… That young American across the wa… As if he’d like to put me in a boo… (Fancies himself a poet, so they s… Ah well! He’ll make no “document”…
I'm Scared of It All

I’m scared of it all, God’s truth… It’s too big and brutal for me. My nerve’s on the raw and I don’t… For all the “hoorah” that I see. I’m pinned between subway and over…
No More Music

The Porch was blazoned with geran… Myrtle and jasmine meadows lit the… With rose and violet the vale’s pe… Languished to where the hyacinthin… Dreamed tenderly . . . “And I mus…
Grandad

Heaven’s mighty sweet, I guess; Ain’t no rush to git there: Been a sinner, more or less; Maybe wouldn’t fit there. Wicked still, bound to confess;
Patches

Mother focused with a frown The part of me where I sit down. Said she: “Your pants are wearing… Let me sew on a patch for you.” And so she did,—of azure blue.
Wonder

For failure I was well equipped And should have come to grief, By atavism grimly gripped, A fool beyond belief. But lo! the Lord was good to me,
My Hour

Day after day behold me plying My pen within an office drear; The dullest dog, till homeward hie… Then lo! I reign a king of cheer. A throne have I of padded leather…
On the Wire

O God, take the sun from the sky! It’s burning me, scorching me up. God, can’t You hear my cry? Water! A poor, little cup! It’s laughing, the cursed sun!
The Law of Laws

If we could roll back History A century, let’s say, And start from there, I’m sure th… Would find things as to—day: In all creation’s cosmic range



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