The Call of the Wild

Where it surfaces

• The Law of the Yukon

  The Yukon calls for strong, resilient men, rejecting the weak and unfit.

• The Call of the Wild

  The entire poem is a direct expression of this theme, urging the listener to answer the wild's summons and leave behind societal constraints.

• The Lone Trail

  The poem personifies the Lone Trail as a lure that draws the traveler away from safety and into the unknown, echoing the primal call to adventure.

• The Heart of the Sourdough

  The speaker is irresistibly drawn to the untamed North, describing it as 'the olden lure' and 'the golden lure' that calls to his heartstrings.

• The Three Voices

  The wind bids the narrator to keep free from gold-lust and cling to nature, echoing the pull of the wild.

• The Lure of Little Voices

  The entire poem is a direct expression of the irresistible pull of the wilderness, personified as 'Little Voices' that haunt and compel the speaker.

• The Cremation of Sam McGee

  Sam's inexplicable pull to the gold fields despite his hatred of the cold echoes the irresistible lure of the wild and the promise of fortune.

• The Rhyme of the Remittance Man

  The narrator has answered the call of the wild, leaving behind civilization for a life of freedom in nature.

• The Rhyme of the Restless Ones

  The poem's central theme is the irresistible pull of a wild, wandering life, as the restless ones reject domestic stability for adventure, roaming from Alaska to the South.