Canada / Pauline Johnson

Canada

Crown of her, young Vancouver; crest of her, old Quebec;
Atlantic and far Pacific sweeping her, keel to deck.
North of her, ice and arctics; southward a rival’s stealth;
Aloft, her Empire’s pennant; below, her nation’s wealth.
Daughter of men and markets, bearing within her hold,
Appraised at highest value, cargoes of grain and gold.

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E. Pauline Johnson (Tekahionwake) (1861-1913)
from Flint and Feather, 1912

[Poem is in the public domain worldwide]

Pauline Johnson biography

Mack Male, Canada Day Fireworks, 2013. CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons.