The Cremation of Sam McGee

“Gunga Din” by Rudyard Kipling (1890)

A well-noted and very popular example by the Nobel Prize-winning Kipling, one of the manly poets (See: Background) writing about manly topics and designed for men to read. The ballad “Gunga Din” relates the story of the relationship between a British soldier stationed in occupied India and the humble but heroic water boy who serves his battle-tested platoon. Like with “The Cremation of Sam McGee,” Kipling’s ballad rewards dramatic recitation.

“Casey at the Bat” by Ernest Lawrence Thayer (1888)

“Casey at the Bat” entertains with a riveting and dramatic story, in this case the seriocomic account of an arrogant baseball player’s humbling at-bat. Like “The Cremation of Sam McGee,” “Casey at the Bat” found a wide and appreciative reception and became part of pop culture. Similar to Service, Thayer uses the story to teach conventional insights such as “pride goeth before the fall.”

“The Shooting of Dan McGrew” by Robert W. Service (1907)

Published in the same volume as “The Cremation of Sam McGee,” this ballad—about a mysterious stranger who shoots up a wilderness saloon during a card game, perhaps over a dark and fetching lady—helped establish Service’s reputation as a storyteller of the Yukon.