|
|
 |
|
|
|
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 ever 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 |
Magee was an American civilian who crossed the border to enlist in the Canadian Air Force in the early days of World War II when Britain was battling the Luftwaffe for control of the sky. He became a fighter pilot and it wasn't long before he was in England, fighting the Nazis.
He was test flying a Spitfire at 30,000 feet when he began to compose this poem. He finished it when he landed.
Magee sent a copy to his parents who must have received it posthumously because three days after writing it he was killed in a mid-air collision.
Magee never saw a hang glider, never dreamed that such a machine might exist, but there is no doubt that with his love of flight he would have taken to the new sport with enthusiasm.
^
Click Here
to return to top of page.