Under the Ice
Reputedly, Antarctica is rich in oils
And minerals of every kind, sufficient spoils
To whet our appetites in raw material
For industries. Already rise political
Disputes over the ownership of such rare store
Under the miles-thick, age-protected ceiling-floor.
Yet, far more precious than these minerals are those
Fresh relics of pre-history which shall expose
Immute forms for discovery; life’s stages curbed
In durant fossils — by man nor Nature disturbed
What millions of years? — our hidden future-past!.
We must preserve these if we search for unsurpassed
New knowledge of old life and its advance by land and sea;
To prove, beyond all doubt, our long-contended history.
