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.
High Flight was composed by Pilot Officer John
Gillespie Magee, Jr., an American serving with the
Royal Canadian Air Force. He was born in
Shanghai, China in 1922. He came to the U.S.
in 1939 and earned a scholarship to Yale, but in
September 1940 he enlisted in the RCAF and was
graduated as a pilot. He was sent to England for combat
duty in July 1941. In August or September 1941,
Pilot Officer Magee composed High Flight and sent
a copy to his parents. Several months later, on
December 11, 1941 his Spitfire collided with
another plane over England and Magee, only 19
years of age, crashed to his death.
His remains
are buried in the churchyard cemetery at
Scopwick, Lincolnshire.
