High Flight
by John Gillespie Magee, jr.

Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth,
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I have 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 have 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; nor 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.