CMP Review 2026-04-10

April 10, 2026

One of our favourite Canadian poets is Robert Service. We love to read his poems aloud. There’s just something about how the words sound. And his poems are just rollicking, his verses roll off the tongue! We can’t help but smile and laugh as we read them!

Though we consider him a Canadian poet, his biography tells us that he was born in England in 1874, his family returned to their native Scotland when he was a boy, he came to British Columbia Canada in his early 20s, moved around western North America for a decade, lived in the Yukon for a decade, in France for a decade and a half during WWI, in California during WWII, and moved back to France where he spent the final years of his life. He died there in 1958.

What makes this world traveller feel like a Canadian poet is the subject matter of his poems, his poetic sensibilities, his turn of phrase, the ideas he incorporates into his story-telling, his quirky humour, and more than that, the way he captured this country’s essence. He put into words our unique experience, from (his) present and the past, including many poems set in Gold Rush times. Robert Service could describe ice and snow and cold and that “chilled to the bone” feeling like no other.

If you’ve not had these Arctic experiences yourself, this poetry can transport you to a different place and time with such vivid, captivating imagery. The classic northern paintings by Ted Harrison, who also lived in the Yukon for 25 years, paired with Robert Service’s poems in these picture books don’t hurt, either.

And, wonderfully, here in Manitoba, we woke up to a fresh snowfall of 5 or 6 cm on Wednesday, just in time for me to take this photo. ❄️🇨🇦 ❄️

Do you have a favourite national, regional, or even local poet? Share with us the poets that tell the tales of your land, those who capture the unique flavour of your region. So that we, too, can be transported!

@antonella.f.greco