The Spell of the Yukon

The first verse of Robert W. Service's poem "The Spell of the Yukon". It was published in his 1907 book "Songs of a Sourdough" (aka "The Spell of the Yukon and Other Verses").

I wanted the gold, and I sought it;
I scrabbled and mucked like a slave.

Was it famine or scurvy-I fought it;
I hurled my youth into a grave.

I wanted the gold, and I got it-
Came out with a fortune last fall-
Yet somehow life's not what I thought it,
And somehow the gold isn't all.