He means to make a name:

Salvos! they give him his fame.

The staff is caught, and next the rush,

And then the leap where death has led;

Flag answered flag along the crest,

And swarms of rebels fled.

But some who gained the envied Alp,

And—eager, ardent, earnest there—

Dropped into Death’s wide-open arms,

Quelled on the wing like eagles struck in air—