The Man From Athabaska Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: ABABB CDCED AFAFF BGBGG CHIIH GHGHH GBGBB JEJEE GGGGG GGGGG GFCBF KEKEBE

Oh the wife she tried to tell me that 'twas nothing but the thrummingA
Of a wood pecker a rapping on the hollow of a treeB
And she thought that I was fooling when I said it was the drummingA
Of the mustering of legions and 'twas calling unto meB
'Twas calling me to pull my freight and hop across the seaB
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And a mending of my fish nets sure I started up in wonderC
For I heard a savage roaring and 'twas coming from afarD
Oh the wife she tried to tell me that 'twas only summer thunderC
And she laughed a bit sarcastic when I told her it was WarE
'Twas the chariots of battle where the mighty armies areD
-
Then down the lake came Half breed Tom with russet sail a flyingA
And the word he said was War again so what was I to doF
Oh the dogs they took to howling and the missis took to cryingA
As I flung my silver foxes in the little birch canoeF
Yes the old girl stood a blubbing till an island hid the viewF
-
Says the factor Mike you're crazy They have soldier men a plentyB
You're as grizzled as a badger and you're sixty year or soG
But I haven't missed a scrap says I since I was one and twentyB
And shall I miss the biggest You can bet your whiskers noG
So I sold my furs and started and that's eighteen months agoG
-
For I joined the Foreign Legion and they put me for a starterC
In the trenches of the Argonne with the Boche a step awayH
And the partner on my right hand was an apache from MontmartreI
On my left there was a millionaire from Pittsburg U S AI
Poor fellow They collected him in bits the other dayH
-
But I'm sprier than a chipmunk save a touch of the lumbagoG
And they calls me Old Methoosalah and blagues' me all the dayH
I'm their exhibition sniper and they work me like a DagoG
And laugh to see me plug a Boche a half a mile awayH
Oh I hold the highest record in the regiment they sayH
-
And at night they gather round me and I tell them of my roamingG
In the Country of the Crepuscule beside the Frozen SeaB
Where the musk ox runs unchallenged and the cariboo goes homingG
And they sit like little children just as quiet as can beB
Men of every crime and colour how they harken unto meB
-
And I tell them of the Furland of the tumpline and the paddleJ
Of secret rivers loitering that no one will exploreE
And I tell them of the ranges of the pack strap and the saddleJ
And they fill their pipes in silence and their eyes beseech for moreE
While above the star shells fizzle and the high explosives roarE
-
And I tell of lakes fish haunted where the big bull moose are callingG
And forests still as sepulchres with never trail or trackG
And valleys packed with purple gloom and mountain peaks appallingG
And I tell them of my cabin on the shore at Fond du LacG
And I find myself a thinking Sure I wish that I was backG
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So I brag of bear and beaver while the batteries are roaringG
And the fellows on the firing steps are blazing at the foeG
And I yarn of fur and feather when the marmites' are a soaringG
And they listen to my stories seven poilus' in a rowG
Seven lean and lousy poilus with their cigarettes aglowG
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And I tell them when it's over how I'll hike for AthabaskaG
And those seven greasy poilus they are crazy to go tooF
And I'll give the wife the pickle tub I promised and I'll ask herC
The price of mink and marten and the run of caribooB
And I'll get my traps in order and I'll start to work anewF
-
For I've had my fill of fighting and I've seen a nation scatteredK
And an army swung to slaughter and a river red with goreE
And a city all a smoulder and as if it really matteredK
For the lake is yonder dreaming and my cabin's on the shoreE
And the dogs are leaping madly and the wife is singing gladlyB
And I'll rest in Athabaska and I'll leave it nevermoreE

Robert William Service



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