UNCONQUERABLY, men venture on the quest <br /> And seek an ocean amplitude unsailed, <br />Cold, virgin, awful. Scorning ease and rest, <br /> And heedless of the heroes who have failed, <br />They face the ice floes with a dauntless zest. <br /> <br />The polar quest! Life’s offer to the strong! <br /> To pass beyond the pale, to do and dare, <br />Leaving a name that stirs us like a song. <br /> And making captive some strange Otherwhere, <br />Though grim the conquest, and the labor long. <br /> <br />Forever courage kindles, faith moves forth <br />To find the mystic floodway of the North.<br /><br />Richard Francis Burton<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-polar-quest/
