High Flight

[denny]

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 windswept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, or even eagle flew -
And, while with silent lifting mind I've trod
The high unsurpassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand and touched the face of God.

Pilot Officer John Gillespie Magee

In Memoriam

Comments

[valkyriekaren.livejournal.com]

you're the second person I know today to quote that in full on LJ, for the same reason.

[dennyd.livejournal.com]

Apparently it was the favourite poem of the woman who died when Challenger exploded, so it was trotted out rather a lot back then. I imagine it'll be quoted nearly as often in the next few weeks, as it carries those associations now.

I'd not seen it before this morning, when I was searching for info about the crew. It's quite an evocative piece, especially to anyone who's ever flown. There's something unique about flight - the only other thing I've done that comes close to it is riding my motorbike...