In this early 20th century acrostic poem, Native Canadian poet Emily Pauline Johnson (1861–1913) imagines the mapped nation of Canada as a great ship spanning between the oceans, ‘bearing’ its cargo of natural riches ‘within her hold’.

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving 🍁

Canada
by Emily Pauline Johnson

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.