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
Thank you for this beautiful poem, Larry. I've never known - been too lazy to research, I guess - whence Reagan plucked these beautiful lines.
ReplyDeleteJust a few months after he wrote it John Gillespie Magee, Jr died in a mid air crash about a week after we entered WW2.
ReplyDeleteHe was only 19.