High Flight ~ The Aviator's Poem

   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 untrespassed sanctity of space,
   Put out my hand and touched the face of God.

by John Gillespie Magee , RCAF 1922-1941  ~  © This England Books 1996
Visit the website of the Aircraft Museums Guide
History of The Battle of Britain and the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight website


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