Poetry: Sam McGee

Last updated about 6 years ago

12 questions

1

There are strange things done in the midnight sun
By the men who moil for gold;
The Arctic trails have their secret tales
That would make your blood run cold;
The Northern Lights have seen queer sights,
But the queerest they ever did see
Was that night on the marge of Lake Lebarge
I cremated Sam McGee.

What MOOD is portrayed in this stanza?

exciting

eerie

calm

weird

There are strange things done in the midnight sun
By the men who moil for gold;
The Arctic trails have their secret tales
That would make your blood run cold;
The Northern Lights have seen queer sights,
But the queerest they ever did see
Was that night on the marge of Lake Lebarge
I cremated Sam McGee.

What phrase from the stanza best supports this MOOD?

Was that night on the marge of Lake Lebarge

By the men who moil for gold

in the midnight sun

That would make your blood run cold

What is a SIMILE from this stanza?

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 the land of gold seemed to hold him like a spell;

Though he'd often say in his homely way that "he'd sooner live in hell."

Analyze the bolded simile below. What does it mean?

On a Christmas Day we were mushing our way over the Dawson trail.
Talk of your cold! through the parka's fold it stabbed like a driven nail.
If our eyes we'd close, then the lashes froze till sometimes we couldn't see;
It wasn't much fun, but the only one to whimper was Sam McGee.

What is an example of PERSONIFICATION from the stanza?

And that very night, as we lay packed tight in our robes beneath the snow,

And 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, I'm asking that you won't refuse my last request."

Why is it so important for Sam McGee to be cremated?

because he is always cold and wants to be warm

so his pal doesn’t have to drag his body around

because he hates the dirt and worms

so it is easier to bring him back to Tennessee

Well, he seemed so low that I couldn't say no; then he says with a sort of moan:
"It's the cursèd cold, and 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."

What is one example of END RHYME in the stanza?

pains, remains

cold, hold

swear, fair

cursed cold

Well, he seemed so low that I couldn't say no; then he says with a sort of moan:
"It's the cursèd cold, and 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."

What is one example of INTERNAL RHYME?

moan, bone

low, no

cursed cold

pains, remains

Well, he seemed so low that I couldn't say no; then he says with a sort of moan:
"It's the cursèd cold, and 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."

What is one example of ALLITERATION.
last remains
icy grave
chilled clean
cursed cold

last remains

icy grave

chilled clean

cursed cold

Till I came to the marge of Lake Lebarge, and a derelict there lay;
It was jammed in the ice, but I saw in a trice it was called the "Alice May."
And I looked at it, and I thought a bit, and I looked at my frozen chum;
Then "Here," said I, with a sudden cry, "is my cre-ma-tor-eum."

Some planks I tore from the cabin floor, and 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.

Where does the narrator cremate Sam McGee’s corpse?

on top of ice in the middle of a Lake

in the cabin floor of a derelict(an abandoned ship)

in the woods with some trees

 In the fireplace of a house

What is an example of HYPERBOLE from this stanza?

And there sat Sam, looking cool and calm, in the heart of the furnace roar;

And he wore a smile you could see a mile, and 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."

When the narrator looks in the crematorium to check on Sam, what does he see?

Sam has turned into ash.

Sam is smiling and talking.

Sam’s ghost is floating in the air.

Sam’s bones are in the fire.

There are strange things done in the midnight sun
By the men who moil for gold;
The Arctic trails have their secret tales
That would make your blood run cold;
The Northern Lights have seen queer sights,
But the queerest they ever did see
Was that night on the marge of Lake Lebarge
I cremated Sam McGee.

What MOOD is portrayed in this stanza?

exciting

eerie

calm

weird

There are strange things done in the midnight sun
By the men who moil for gold;
The Arctic trails have their secret tales
That would make your blood run cold;
The Northern Lights have seen queer sights,
But the queerest they ever did see
Was that night on the marge of Lake Lebarge
I cremated Sam McGee.

What phrase from the stanza best supports this MOOD?

Was that night on the marge of Lake Lebarge

By the men who moil for gold

in the midnight sun

That would make your blood run cold

What is a SIMILE from this stanza?

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 the land of gold seemed to hold him like a spell;

Though he'd often say in his homely way that "he'd sooner live in hell."

What is an example of PERSONIFICATION from the stanza?

And that very night, as we lay packed tight in our robes beneath the snow,

And 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, I'm asking that you won't refuse my last request."

Why is it so important for Sam McGee to be cremated?

because he is always cold and wants to be warm

so his pal doesn’t have to drag his body around

because he hates the dirt and worms

so it is easier to bring him back to Tennessee

Well, he seemed so low that I couldn't say no; then he says with a sort of moan:
"It's the cursèd cold, and 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."

What is one example of  END RHYME in the stanza?

pains, remains

cold, hold

swear, fair

cursed cold

Well, he seemed so low that I couldn't say no; then he says with a sort of moan:
"It's the cursèd cold, and 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."

What is one example of INTERNAL RHYME?

moan, bone

low, no

cursed cold

pains, remains

Well, he seemed so low that I couldn't say no; then he says with a sort of moan:
"It's the cursèd cold, and 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."

What is one example of ALLITERATION.
last remains
icy grave
chilled clean
cursed cold

last remains

icy grave

chilled clean

cursed cold

Till I came to the marge of Lake Lebarge, and a derelict there lay;
It was jammed in the ice, but I saw in a trice it was called the "Alice May."
And I looked at it, and I thought a bit, and I looked at my frozen chum;
Then "Here," said I, with a sudden cry, "is my cre-ma-tor-eum."

Some planks I tore from the cabin floor, and 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.


Where does the narrator cremate Sam McGee’s corpse?

on top of ice in the middle of a Lake

in the cabin floor of a derelict(an abandoned ship)

in the woods with some trees

 In the fireplace of a house

What is an example of HYPERBOLE from this stanza?

And there sat Sam, looking cool and calm, in the heart of the furnace roar;

And he wore a smile you could see a mile, and 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."

When the narrator looks in the crematorium to check on Sam, what does he see?

Sam has turned into ash.

Sam is smiling and talking.

Sam’s ghost is floating in the air.

Sam’s bones are in the fire.