Back
The Quitter 
When
you're lost in the Wild, and you're scared as a child,
And Death looks you bang in the eye,
And you're sore as a boil, it's according to Hoyle
To cock your revolver and . . . die.
But the Code of a Man says: "Fight all you can,"
And self-dissolution is barred.
In hunger and woe, oh, it's easy to blow . . .
It's the hell-served-for-breakfast that's hard.
"You're
sick of the game!" Well, now that's a shame.
You're young and you're brave and you're bright.
"You've had a raw deal!" I know — but don't squeal,
Buck up, do your damnedest, and fight.
It's the plugging away that will win you the day,
So don't be a piker, old pard!
Just draw on your grit, it's so easy to quit.
It's the keeping-your chin-up that's hard.
It's
easy to cry that you're beaten — and die;
It's easy to crawfish and crawl;
But to fight and to fight when hope's out of sight —
Why that's the best game of them all!
And though you come out of each gruelling bout,
All broken and battered and scarred,
Just have one more try — it's dead easy to die,
It's the keeping-on-living that's hard.
|
About Robert Service (1874-1958) |
|
Robert Service, well known as the "Canadian Kipling" was born into a Scottish Family who lived in Preston, England. At 15 he worked at Commercial bank of Scotland as an apprentice for 20 pounds a year. During this time he had never thought of becoming a poet or writer. His ambition was to travel to the wild wild west and became a cowboy. At 22, Service decided to go to Canada with the idea of ranching. He left for Montreal with $5 and worked many labor jobs. From being a dishwasher boy to picking oranges, Service never tired of dreaming of one day being able to have his own farm and lead a free cowboy lifestyle. For almost 10 years he lived poor, work odd jobs, studied at a university but never finishes and were broke and jobless in Vancouver. He started writing in 1907, during his spare time from his job. His works were immediate success. With steady stream of income from his books, he resign from his day job, rented a log cabin and dedicated his life to writing - full time. Apart from poems, he also write novels that were transformed into movies. He works earned him big success and earned him a fortune. The Canadian government had decided to named a few schools in his honor as well as printing special commemorative stamps in 1976. |
