[Pg 52]

[Pg 52]

[Pg 53]

[Pg 53]

 Kane: died February 16, 1857.

Kane: died February 16, 1857.

ALOFT upon an old basaltic crag,

Which, scalped by keen winds that defend the Pole,

Gazes with dead face on the seas that roll

Around the secret of the mystic zone,

A mighty nation’s star-bespangled flag

Flutters alone;

And underneath, upon the lifeless front

Of that drear cliff, a simple name is traced,—

Fit type of him who, famishing and gaunt,

But with a rocky purpose in his soul,

Breasted the gathering snows,

Clung to the drifting floes,

By want beleaguered and by winter chased,

Seeking the brother lost amid that frozen waste.

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