Poem

							Robert W. Service
   It's fine to have a blow-out in a fancy restaurant,
    With terrapin and canvas-back and all the wine you want;
    To enjoy the flowers and music, watch the pretty women pass,
    Smoke a choice cigar, and sip the wealthy water in your glass.
    It's bully in a high-toned joint to eat and drink your fill,
    But it's quite another matter when you
                             Pay the bill.
    It's great to go out every night on fun or pleasure bent;
    To wear your glad rags always and to never save a cent;
    To drift along regardless, have a good time every trip;
    To hit the high spots sometimes, and to let your chances slip;
    To know you're acting foolish, yet to go on fooling still,
    Till Nature calls a show-down, and you
                              Pay the bill.
    Time has got a little bill -- get wise while yet you may,
    For the debit side's increasing in a most alarming way;
    The things you had no right to do, the things you should have
    done,
    They're all put down; it's up to you to pay for every one.
    So eat, drink and be merry, have a good time if you will,
    But God help you when the time comes, and you
                              Foot the bill.
 Type of Poem- Lyric Poetry (Song)


 Style of verse – Rhyming Verse
                                        anapest (~~/ )   iamb ( ~/)       spondee (//)
                                        dactyl ( /~~)    trochee ( /~ )



  Type one stanza of the poem and scan it showing the
  rhythm pattern.

It's fine to have a blow-out in a fancy restaurant, A
   With terrapin and canvas-back and all the wine you want; A
   To enjoy the flowers and music, watch the pretty women pass, B
   Smoke a choice cigar, and sip the wealthy water in your glass. B
   It's bully in a high-toned joint to eat and drink your fill, C
   But it's quite another matter when you
                            Pay the bill. C
 The theme of the poem is the good life COSTS!
 It’s great to have fun, live in the moment, and treat
  yourself well however at the end of the night you
  probably won’t be too happy when it’s time to pay up.
 As far as symbolism in
 the poem, I think that
 “paying the bill” isn’t
 always necessarily
 money but it can refer
 to any consequence for
 our over the top
 actions.
 The poem paints a very realistic picture of someone
 who likes to live big and spend money without
 thinking. It doesn’t use many similes or metaphors
 because it says exactly what it means.
       The definition of reckoning is: the act of
    counting or computing; an itemized bill or
    statement of a sum due. The title is directly
    connected with the poem because that is
    exactly the authors concern. How the mood and
    demeanor of the person will change once it is
    time to pay the bill and the spendthrift sees the
    damage they did.
The message the poet was trying to get across is
be mindful of how much you spend when
having a good time, and do no ignore the signs
of overspending; in the end it will be you who
has to pay. He also could be referring to
consequences of anything that is done in a
frivolous manner.
 Service was born into a Scottish family while
  they were living in Preston, England. He was
  schooled in Scotland. He moved to Canada
  at the age of 21 when he gave up his job
  working in a Glasgow bank and soon began
  drifted around western North America,
  taking and quitting a series of jobs. He was
  hired by the Canadian Bank of Commerce
  and worked at a branch in Whitehorse in the
  Yukon Territory in 1904, six years after the
  Klondike Gold Rush. Inspired by the vast
  beauty of the Yukon wilderness, Service
  began writing poetry about the things he saw
  and became known for his work about the
  West and the Yukon gold miners.
      By
Celiah Bunsie
It doesn’t depend on our circumstances,
whether we’re happy or sad, whether our day was good or bad,
It’s given to us by the Father
It can never be taken away or lost, for it is not of this world

Human emotions, oh how they can change as the wind blows
causing us to believe then doubt, love then shout,
The world ends at least four times a day for some
But the joy that fills my soul conquers all

Oh to know true joy!
In a world where there’s much we don’t understand,
we know it’s all in His hand
All things are part of a perfect plan.
Is it to say that our emotions are meaningless?
Not so! For a special reason they were given you know
There would be no love, no caring, no laughter
Oh how miserable this world would be!

No it can not be found in money, fame, or other people
Not in any man made book, even those with the best hook
Only the Lord can provide the joy that never dies
         Blessed be the name of the Lord!
Presented by: Celiah Bunsie
Date: 9/28/09                 Class: Language and Literacy

Bibliography:
1) Poet’s Corner
http://www.theotherpages.org/poems/

2) Wikipedia.com