What is pole?

Famous quotes containing the word pole:

    “Not because Socrates has said it, but because it is really in my nature, and perhaps a little more than it should be, I look upon all humans as my fellow-citizens, and would embrace a Pole as I would a Frenchman, subordinating this national tie to the common and universal one.”
    —Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592)

    “O, withered is the garland of the war,
    The soldier’s pole is fallen!”
    —William Shakespeare (1564–1616)