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. Hovering, there,
I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung
my eager craft through footless halts of air.
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace,
When never lark, or even eagle flew;
And, while with silent, lifting mind I’ve trod
The high un-trespassed sanctity of space
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.
John Gillespie Magee, Jr.