The Cremation of Sam McGee

[Laura K (NC)]

Did anyone else have to memorize that poem? I was so proud when I accomplished that in high school, and those of us who did had a bond between us as something we had gone through together and survived.

I found a site put together by a teacher of a pretty ambitious poetry class. She provides a list of poems and assigns them points based on length, and the points count toward their grade, as do writing original poems and analyzing a poem. The site is here (http://www.boredcentral.com/english/poetry.html). There is an interesting emphasis on T.S. Eliot's poems, and there are two poems in there from Dr. Seuss, including "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," which is worth 30 points, as is "The Cremation of Sam McGee." There is no Shakespeare on this list, so this is a nice list for a pre-modern or modern literature class.

I'm making my boys memorize The Cremation of Sam McGee. I don't think its especially great literature, but it's fun and a mental challenge.

[PamInMN]

I love that poem!!!

I still use that line...... well a couple of them....

"Please close that door! It's fine in here, but I greatly fear you'll let in teh cold and storm --- Since I left Plumtree down in Tennessee, it's the first time I've been warm."

and.........

There are strange things done in the midnight sun
By the men who toil for gold;
The Arctic trails have their secret tales
That would make your blood run cold;

The Northern Lights have seen queer sights,
But the queerest they ever did see
Was that night on the marge of Lake Lebarge
I cremated Sam McGee.



My Mom and I were just talking about this poem..... small world! :lol:

[Michelle in MO]

I remember my dad buying an entire volume of Robert Service when I was a kid and reading a number of the poems aloud to my brother and I when we were kids! I remember clearly The Cremation of Sam McGee and The Shooting of Dan McGrew and others.

In fact, for two years in a row we hosted (for our homeschool group) a "Poetry Roundup & BBQ" (I did not come up with that name---it was actually in the spelling book of my youngest daughter!) and everyone had to bring a poem (either memorized or not memorized) and share with the group. The Cremation of Sam McGee was one of them. It was really a lot of fun, listening to what others shared: Portia's speech from The Merchant of Venice, The Charge of the Light Brigade, and Kipling's Natural Theology and others.

Poetry is one of the unsung heroes of homeschool curricula! :)

[nmoira]

Even my youngest can recite bits of this we've read it so often. There's a nice picture book version with paintings by Ted Harrison. He also did The Shooting of Dan McGrew.

[Jan P.]

Oh Laura,

I love that poem. My dh grew up not knowing it, so I "made" him by a poetry book by Robert Service. I'm going to your poetry website right now!

Blessings,

[nmoira]

I love that poem. My dh grew up not knowing it, so I "made" him by a poetry book by Robert Service. I'm going to your poetry website right now!My faves as a child were "The Ballad of the Ice-Worm Cocktail" and "Bessie's Boil." Not terribly sophisticated I know...

[Michelle in MO]

My faves as a child were "The Ballad of the Ice-Worm Cocktail" and "Bessie's Boil." Not terribly sophisticated I know...

this morning: "The Ballad of the Ice-Worm Cocktail". It was so gross that it was hilarious! Thanks for the reminder!

[mcconnellboys]

I loved this poem, thanks!

[Starr]

My favorite! It brings back my teen years in Alaska. I still quote from it as well. :)

[swellmomma]

I never had to, however I did anyway as a teen. We had a family friend that that to memorize it in school and he would recite it at our xmas party. I made a point one year of memorizing it to recite it with him. I only remember about 1/2 of it now but I still love it. Sidenote: Thanks to xmas I can also recite 'Twas the night before christmas from memory too.