{
 "id": "robert-w-service/the-little-old-log-cabin",
 "title": "The Little Old Log Cabin",
 "ordinal": null,
 "subtitle": null,
 "poet": "Robert W. Service",
 "poet_slug": "robert-w-service",
 "language": "en",
 "book": "Songs of a Sourdough",
 "book_slug": "songs-of-a-sourdough",
 "book_kind": "volume",
 "sequence": 23,
 "container": null,
 "epigraph": null,
 "first_published": {
  "year": 1907,
  "venue": "Songs of a Sourdough (1907)",
  "note": "First located printing is this volume; an earlier periodical printing has not been established.",
  "uncertain": false,
  "sources": [
   "https://archive.org/details/songsofsourdoug00serv"
  ]
 },
 "source": {
  "kind": "standard-ebooks",
  "repo": "standardebooks/robert-w-service_songs-of-a-sourdough",
  "file": "poetry.xhtml",
  "upstream": [
   "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/25546",
   "https://archive.org/details/songsofsourdoug00serv"
  ],
  "rights": "public domain (SE dedication; underlying text pre-1931)"
 },
 "verification": {
  "level": "structural-only",
  "last_checked": "2026-08-20"
 },
 "stats": {
  "n_lines": 26,
  "n_stanzas": 3,
  "n_parts": 0,
  "longest_line_chars": 73,
  "max_indent": 1
 },
 "site_ready": true,
 "parts": [],
 "stanzas": [
  [
   {
    "text": "When a man gits on his uppers in a hardpan sort of town,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "An’ he ain’t got nothin’ comin’, an’ he can’t afford ter eat,",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "An’ he’s in a fix fer lodgin’, an’ he wanders up an’ down,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "An’ you’d fancy he’d been boozin’, he’s so locoed ’bout the feet;",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "When he’s feelin’ sneakin’ sorry, an’ his belt is hangin’ slack,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "An’ his face is peaked an’ grey-like, an’ his heart gits down an’ whines,",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "Then he’s apt ter git a-thinkin’ an’ a-wishin’ he was back",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "In the little ol’ log cabin in the shadder of the pines.",
    "indent": 1
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "When he’s on the blazin’ desert, an’ his canteen’s sprung a leak,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "An’ he’s all alone an’ crazy, an’ he’s crawlin’ like a snail,",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "An’ his tongue’s so black an’ swollen that it hurts him fer to speak,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "An’ he gouges down fer water, an’ the raven’s on his trail;",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "When he’s done with care and cursin’, an’ he feels more like to cry,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "An’ he sees ol’ Death a-grinnin’, an’ he thinks upon his crimes,",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "Then he’s like ter hev’ a vision, as he settles down ter die,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Of the little ol’ log cabin an’ the roses an’ the vines.",
    "indent": 1
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Oh, the little ol’ log cabin, it’s a solemn shinin’ mark",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "When a feller gits ter sinnin’, an’ a-goin’ ter the wall,",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "An’ folks don’t understand him, an’ he’s gropin’ in the dark,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "An’ he’s sick of bein’ cursed at, an’ he’s longin’ fer his call:",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "When the sun of life’s a-sinkin’ you can see it ’way above,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "On the hill from out the shadder in a glory ’gin the sky,",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "An’ your mother’s voice is callin’, an’ her arms are stretched in love,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "An’ somehow you’re glad you’re goin’, an’ you ain’t a-scared to die;",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "When you’ll be like a kid again, an’ nestle to her breast,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "An’ never leave its shelter, an’ forget, an’ love, an’ rest.",
    "indent": 1
   }
  ]
 ]
}