Saturday, October 13, 2007

Above the Clouds


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.

Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.
— John Gillespie Magee, Jr

6 comments:

patsy said...

the man who wrote this was a pilot during word war 2 i think 2 anyway he was killed and when they went thro his stuff they found this on a envelope. they sent it to his mother. i think it is beautiful.

Galla Creek said...

Yes, I do too!

dot said...

Interesting what Patsy said. Very beautiful!

Annie said...

Hi Sister,
I'm back. Thanks for visiting my blog while I was gone and for urging me to post. It's good to be home.

I remember watching television until midnight or so when the station would sign off with that poem. It was profound then and still is today.

Annie in Little Rock

Betty said...

I love that poem, but you only posted half of it. It's really beautiful. John Gillespie, Jr. was one of the Americans who crossed the border into Canada to enlist with the Royal Canadian Air Force. This was during the Battle of Britain. This poem was on the back of a letter that he sent to his parents. He was killed in 1941, at only 19 years of age.

Galla Creek said...

I know I only posted the first verse and the last line...

Annie, I remember it on the sign off too. Iguess we grew up in the same era.