Rhyme. Rhyme is the repetition of sounds at the ends of words. One way rhyme schemes are often described is by assigning the same letter of the alphabet to each line that ends with the same rhyme. As you read both “Courage” and “The Cremation of Sam McGee,” pay attention to the patterns of rhymes in the poems. Create graphic organizers like the one below for the first stanza of “Courage” and the first and second stanzas of “The Cremation of Sam McGee.” List the last word in each line of the stanza in the left-hand column, and assign a letter to it in the right-hand column. This way, you will discover the poems’ rhyme schemes. The first two lines of “Courage” have been begun for you.
Ballad. A ballad is a simple poem that tells a story. Many ballads were meant to be sung. Most ballads have four-line stanzas that have the rhyme scheme abcb or some other simple rhyme scheme. As you read both poems, try to decide whether either of them might be a ballad.
Tone. Tone is a writer’s or speaker’s attitude toward the subject. As you read “Courage” and “The Cremation of Sam McGee,” think about the overall tone of each poem.
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- Robert Service lived and worked in the Yukon for several years, and some of his most famous poems, including “The Cremation of Sam McGee,” are set in this part of Canada. The Yukon lies in the far northern regions of Canada, near Alaska. The Yukon is vast, and the climate can be harsh. The coldest temperature in North America (sixty-three degrees below zero) was recorded there. Tens of thousands of adventurers and explorers rushed to the Yukon toward the end of the nineteenth century after gold was discovered there in 1896. However, few of these gold prospectors stayed. By the 1920s, when many of the gold deposits were gone, only a few more than four thousand people lived in the Yukon. The population has increased again now that mining has become a major industry in the region.
- Poets often try to look at the world around them in new ways and then capture their insights in their poetry. In the poems you are about to read, Service shares his own unique perspective on something people hope to achieve—courage—and also something that people approach with fear and seriousness—death.
When you think of the word courage, what type of people, animals, or scenes come to mind?
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