The Law of the Yukon
This is the Law of the Yukon,
that only the Strong shall thrive;
That surely the Weak shall perish,
and only the Fit survive.
Dissolute, damned and despairful,
crippled and palsied and slain,
This is the Will of the Yukon,
Lo, how she makes it plain!
— Robert W Service, 1874-1958 (full poem)
Robert William Service was born in Preston, Lancashire, England and immigrated to Canada in 1896. He became known as “the Canadian Kipling” for his popular ballads about the “frozen North”.