Robert W Service
Robert William Service (1874 – 1958) was a poet and writer who has often been called "the Bard of the Yukon". Service is best known for his poems "The Shooting of Dan McGrew" and "The Cremation of Sam McGee", from his first book, Songs of a Sourdough (1907; also published as The Spell of the Yukon and Other Verses) - Wikipedia
To flicker feebly, or to soar, a star
One is never too old to bear
Neither too young to leave the lair
When is it ideal to venture out
Must it be with lots of shouts
Nary the thought of making noises
Just listen to the inner voices
You are one to decide
Does not require great might
Flick your head and make a toss
The world will bear and it's all yours
Note: One is to create a poem with a prompt from the first two lines of a known poet. I had chosen Kay's prompt for mine (with your kind permission,Ma'am!). It is from Robert W Service, a Scottish Canadian poet. It provides a challenge and I thought it is a good start! Thanks Kay!
Submitted to Mary's Mixed Bag at Real Toad's
Oh, Hank, I think it's wonderful you chose to use one of Canada's favorite poets!
ReplyDeleteI love your response to "our" prompt, too, my friend.
K
I love the poem, true, meaningful and rhymes nicely.
ReplyDeleteRhymes right through
ReplyDeleteAnd truly inspires the view
A canadian too
Although avoid the Yukon if I were you
Nice and cold
Things may not be so bold
Great job!
ReplyDeletenice hank...there is def much in our power when it comes to our life...in the decisions we make...and how we roll....
ReplyDeleteAnother uplifting piece to lay at the door of Service.
ReplyDeleteI just finished saying on Kay's post the she introduced me to a new poet....but I lied! I have read Cremation of Sam McGee a million times but was too young to be bothered with the name of the poet. The two laines are great and i love the message and the delivery of your follow up. Great writing.
ReplyDeleteVery nice Hank ~ I like the rhyming words and the meaning of our choices ~
ReplyDeleteHappy day ~
So well done, especially those last two lines. Yes, we all have choices. The world will indeed bear them!
ReplyDeleteI think life's other challenge may be to look just like that in a picture. ~Mary
ReplyDeleteRobert Service has long been one of my favorite poets.
ReplyDeleteYou did a fabulous job. This is great.
ReplyDeleteThis is fantastic...a beautiful response to the challenge..Flick your head and make a toss The world will bear and it's all yours....love this line
ReplyDeleteI don't know this guy, I'm going to have to look him up. Thanks for introducing him.
ReplyDeleteyep..it's all about the decisions we make and living life boldly..
ReplyDeleteFabulous, it all flowed together and no-one would ever know it wasn't all supposed to be 'together' Life is all about living it and, making our own good or bad choices and paying those consequences for the wrongs ones, isn't it?. Lovely write :)
ReplyDeleteHank, this is definitely excellent. You have picked up the flavor of Robert Service and have created a masterpiece.
ReplyDeleteWell Done Hank! I read it again~ It has a great lyrical voice :D
ReplyDeleteenjoyed this! we're never too old or too young to start living, and making our choices to affect just how we do so.
ReplyDelete