Shannon : A Poem of the Lewis and Clark Expedition

From the inimitable Campbell McGrath comes an epic poem of george shannon, the youngest member of the lewis and clark expedition, who wandered the prairie alone for sixteen days. The last of the Maha will fade from the earth Vanquished utterly by the Pawnee & after the Pawnee the Sioux may perish & eventually the Kentuckians and Ohioans &c—I doubt not but my countrymen Will populate in numbers these fulsome plains But what untold count Of years & men, of decades & centuries What numberless generations will it require Life by life & skeleton by skeleton To claim this land from the buffalo? With Shannon, a testament to both natural splendor and human courage, Campbell McGrath has created a thrilling narrative that rises from those vast, lonely spaces that continue to haunt the American consciousness. “An unexpected story and a gem of a book.”—Pittsburgh Post-GazetteThe incomparable Campbell McGrath, whom Outside magazine calls, “A writer who could help save poetry from academia and get the rest of us reading it again,” delivers an astounding work: Shannon, an epic poem that traces the remarkable journey of the youngest member of the Lewis and Clark expedition. The Kansas City Star praises Shannon as, “A luminescent narrative...a myth of American character before its corruption,” and Campbell McGrath—Poet Laureate, Guggenheim Fellowship, Pushcart Prize, and three-time Academy of American Poets Prize winner—proves once again to be truly an “everyman poet” who channels the spirit of Walt Whitman in this lyrical adventure. The Kinsley Tufts Award-winning author of Spring Comes to Chicago and Pax Atomica presents an epic work inspired by the expedition of Lewis and Clark from a perspective of its youngest member, George Shannon, that also reflects on the narrator's sixteen-day solitary journey through the prairie. 10,000 first printing. An Epic Poem Of George Shannon, The Youngest Member Of The Lewis And Clark Expedition, Who Wandered The Prairie Alone For Sixteen Days--jacket. Campbell Mcgrath. Title from PDF title page (viewed on June 23, 2009).