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High Flight is a 1941 sonnet written by war poet John Gillespie Magee Jr. and inspired by his experiences as a fighter pilot of the Royal Canadian Air Force in World War II.
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'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.
Words to High Flight. A well known military aviation poem "High Flight", written by John G. Magee on September 3, 1941. The version that most nearly follows the original manuscript is as follows: 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.
‘High Flight (An Airman’s Ecstasy)’ is the one well-known poem by John Gillespie Magee (1922-41), an Anglo-American fighter pilot who served in the Royal Canadian Air Force.
Magee's 'High Flight' tells the exhilaration and freedom of flight, capturing the fearless spirit of those who leave the earth behind to fly.
Sep 3, 2013 · The verse, or “ditty,” as Magee later refers to it, was a sonnet titled “High Flight,” a fourteen-line paean to the sublimity and sheer joy of flight felt by Magee during a solo run in his Spitfire aircraft.
After a high altitude test flight one day, John wrote his parents a letter and enclosed a poem--this one--that test flight inspired. He was killed a few months later, when his plane collided with that of another British military pilot.
Aug 13, 2011 · Reprinted and broadcast countless times, High Flight is regarded as one of the world’s great war poems and the greatest anthem of aviation. It is the official poem of the Royal Canadian Air Force and the Royal Air Force.
Apr 18, 2021 · His poem, “High Flight”, is perhaps the most well-known and best loved verse in aviation history. The story of how Magee came to write his famous poem and what happened to him afterward are not well known, however. When the Second World War broke out, the United States was a neutral county.
Mar 1, 2024 · 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.
