The Cremation of Sam McGee

There are strange things done in the midnight sun By the men who moil for gold The Arctic trails have their secret tales That'd make your blood run cold The Northern Lights have seen queer sights But the queerest they e'er did see Was that night on the marge of Lake Lebarge I cremated Sam McGee Now Sam McGee was from Tennessee Where the cotton blooms and blows Why he left his home in the South to roam 'Round the Pole, God only knows He was always cold, but thе land of gold Seemed to hold him like a spell Though hе'd often say in his homely way That he'd "sooner live in Hell" That very night, as we lay packed in tight In our robes beneath the snow The dogs were fed, and the stars o'erhead Were dancing heel and toe He turned to me, and "Cap", says he "I'll cash in this trip, I guess And if I do, well I ask that you Won't refuse my last request" He seemed so low that I could not say no Then he says with a sort of moan "The cursed cold, it's got right hold Till I'm chilled clean through to the bone Yet 'tain't being dead, it's my awful dread Of the icy grave that pains So I want you to swear, that foul or fair You'll cremate my last remains" A pal's last need is a thing to heed So I swore I would not fail We started on at the streak of dawn, but God He looked ghastly pale He crouched on the sleigh, and he raved all day Of his home in Tennessee And before nightfall a corpse was all That was left of Sam McGee Some planks I tore from the cabin floor I lit the boiler fire Some coal I found that was lying around And I heaped the fuel higher The flames just soared, and the furnace roared Such a blaze you seldom see And I burrowed a hole in the glowing coal And I stuffed in Sam McGee I do not know how long in the snow I wrestled with grisly fear The stars came out and they danced about And again I ventured near I was sick with dread, but bravely I said "I'll just take a peep inside I guess he's cooked, and it's time I looked" The the door I opened wide And there sat Sam, looking cool and calm In the heart of the furnace roar And he wore a smile you could for see a mile He said: "Please close that door It's fine in here, but I greatly fear You'll let in the cold and storm— Since I left Plumtree, down in Tennessee It's the first time I've been warm." "Since I left Plumtree, down in Tennessee It's the first time I've been warm."