“The Cremation of Sam McGee” is a ballad. A ballad is a narrative poem, usually written in quatrains (four-line stanzas) that alternate between iambic/anapestic pentameter and iambic/anapestic trimeter lines and use an
abcb rhyme scheme
.
What is the message of The Cremation of Sam McGee?
Major Themes in “The Cremation of Sam McGee”:
Perseverance, loyalty, and death
are the major themes of this poem. The poet discusses the difficulties and the problem of the people who survive in the Arctic wildness. The two friends, Sam and Cap travel with the same purpose, but Sam dies.
What happened in the poem The Shooting of Dan McGrew?
Gunshots break out, with both McGrew and the stranger killing each other
, while “the Lady that’s known as Lou” ends up with the stranger’s “poke of gold”. The poet was a Scotsman who came to Canada as a young adult, and was fascinated with the lives and landscapes of the Canadian Northwest where he went to work.
Who wrote the poem Dangerous Dan McGrew?
Born in Lancashire, England to a bank cashier and an heiress, poet
Robert William Service
moved to Scotland at the age of five, living with his grandfather and three aunts until his parents moved to Glasgow four years later and the family reunited. He wrote…
What was Sam McGee’s last request?
was Sam McGee. last request.”
I’m chilled clean through to the bone. cremate my last remains
.”
Why did Robert W Service Write The Cremation of Sam McGee?
When Robert Service fled the Yukon in 1912, he retired in the hot sun of Monte Carlo, never to return to the frozen wilderness that had inspired his writing. His narrative poem, “The Cremation of Sam McGee,” is
about the cold and how cold affects people who live in it day after day
.
Is The Cremation of Sam McGee based on a true story?
Although the poem was fiction, it was based on people and things that Robert Service actually saw in the Yukon
. Lake Laberge is formed by a widening of the Yukon River just north of Whitehorse and is still in use by kayakers.
Does Plumtree Tennessee exist?
Plumtree’s
not even in Tennessee
, it’s on the other side of the state line in North Carolina. He was born William Samuel McGee in 1868, in Lindsay, Ontario, and died in Beiseker, Alberta in 1940. So he neither died of cold and illness nor was he cremated on a lake bank prior to 1907.
What does I’ll cash in this trip mean?
Sam turns to the speaker, and admits that he thinks he’s going to “cash in” on this trip – and he’s not talking about finding gold. Basically,
Sam knows he’s going to die, and he wants to ask for one last favor before he dies
.
What does pinched his poke mean?
Yes, “pinched his poke” means “
stole his ore
.” I will have to read the poem and get back to you about the story…
What did Robert Service write?
| Robert Service | Occupation Writer, poet, Canadian Great North adventurer | Alma mater University of Glasgow, and McGill University | Genre Poetry, Novel | Notable works Songs of a Sourdough, Rhymes of a Red Cross Man, The Trail of ’98 |
|---|
When was the shooting of Dan McGrew written?
(
1923
) The shooting of Dan McGrew .
Is The Cremation of Sam McGee funny?
The Cremation of Sam McGee’ With memorable illustrations from painter Ted Harrison, the
morbidly funny
1907 Robert Service poem about the fate of a Yukon gold prospector is resurrected as a children’s story.
Why was Sam McGee in the Klondike?
The poem is about a freezing-cold winter trip in the Yukon, back in the days of the Klondike Gold Rush. The poem’s speaker tells us a story about his friend, Sam McGee, who freezes to death on the trail.
Sam hates the cold and doesn’t want to be buried in the frozen ground
.
Where was Sam McGee cremated?
He cremated Sam on
the Alice May
, a derelict barge which was tied up on Lake Lebarge.
Was Sam McGee from Tennessee or Texas or Delaware?
Now Sam McGee was from
Tennessee
, where the cotton blooms and blows. Why he left his home in the South to roam ’round the Pole, God only knows. He was always cold, but the land of gold seemed to hold him like a spell; Though he’d often say in his homely way that “he’d sooner live in hell.”
What does moil for gold mean?
Lines 1-2. There are strange things done in the midnight sun. By the men who moil for gold; These two opening lines set the scene. They let us know that we’re in the land of the midnight sun, where men “moil” (that just means
to work really hard
) in search of gold.
Why did the speaker risk a lot to cremate Sam?
Why did the speaker risk a lot to cremate Sam?
He was “horror-driven” about cremating.
What does the speaker in The Cremation of Sam McGee see when he looks into the furnace?
Readers can understand why the poet writes, “The Northern Lights have seen queer sights,/ But the queerest they ever did see.” Here, the queerest sight was that of the ghost of Sam McGee sitting in the furnace fire. On that night, when the speaker cremated McGee, he saw
his ghost who talked with him
.
What is a marge of a lake?
He arrives at the “marge” (
the shore
) of Lake Lebarge (an actual place, outside of the town of Whitehorse, in the Yukon). It’s not clear why this is a good thing yet, but at least it’s a change of scene. The first thing the speaker notices is a “derelict,” the wreck of a ship stuck in the ice.
Where was Sam McGee’s hometown?
Sam McGee’s hometown was
Plumtree Tennessee
.
What is the Alice May?
Alice May was
an agent of Mr. E, being ordered to take on the disguises of the Ghost Girl and later the Obliteratrix, when dealing with Mystery Incorporated
. “Alice May” is likely just an alias, with her true name and backstory remaining a mystery.
Why did Sam McGee leave his hometown?
Why he left his home in the South
to roam ’round the Pole, God only knows
. The speaker wonders why Sam left home to come to the frozen North. A lot of young guys from all over the world would have been in his position during the Gold Rush, charging off to a place they new nothing about in hopes of getting rich quick.
