HIGH FLIGHT

Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth,
And danced the skies on laughter-
silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed and joined the
tumbling mirth Of sun-split clouds--
and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of--
wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence.
Hov'ring there I've chased
the shouting wind along and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air.
Up, up the long delirious burning blue
I've topped the wind-
swept heights with easy grace,
Where never lark, or even eagle, flew;
And, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.

John Gillespie Magee,Jr.

This poem has always been special.
I can't recall a time when I didn't know it.
First from those old TV movies and later because....
I just could never forget it.
********
Magee died during a training fight from
the Scopwick, Lincolnshire, airfield on
December 11, 1941.
He was 19 years old at the time.
The Picture is of John Magee in uniform**

 
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