Songs of a Sourdough
Robert W. Service
Hardcover
(The Ryerson Press, March 15, 1965)
TABLE OF CONTENTS: 1.) The Law of the Yukon -- 2.) The Parson's Son -- 3.) The Spell of the Yukon -- 4.) The Call of the Wild -- 5.) The Lone Trail -- 6.) The Heart of the Sourdough -- 7.) The Three Voices -- 8.) The Pines; The Harpy -- 9.) The Lure of Little Voices -- 10.) The Song of the Wage Slave -- 11.) Grin -- 12.) The Shooting of Dan McGrew -- 13.) The Cremation of Sam McGhee -- 14.) My Madonna -- 15.) Unforgotten -- 16.) The Reckoning -- 17.) Quatrains -- 18.) The Men that Don't Fit in -- 19.) Music in the Bush -- 20.) The Rhyme of the Remittance Man -- 21.) The Low Down White -- 22.) The Little Old Log Cabin -- 23.) The Younger Son -- 24.) The March of the Dead -- 25.) Fighting Mac -- 26.) The Woman and the Angel -- 27.) The Rhyme of the Restless Ones -- 28.) New Years Eve -- 29.) Comfort -- 30.) Premonition -- 31.) The Tramps -- 32.) Lenvoi . . . . . . . . . . Reputedly the best-selling poetry collection of the 20th century, 'Songs of a Sourdough' is best known for Robert W. Service's classic Yukon ballads. Service was born in Preston, Lancashire, and grew up in Scotland. In his twenties, he made his way to Canada and settled in the Yukon where he worked as a bank clerk but evidently dreamed of more adventurous pursuits. Service's readings of his poems show that he could adopt either a Scottish or North American accent. Here they are read in an accent that is not too far removed from the place of his birth. - Summary by Phil Benson