‘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. Hov’ring there,
I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless falls of air...
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, nor eer 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.
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 falls of air...
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, nor eer 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.
From left are Ellison Onizuka, Mike Smith, Christa McAuliffe, Dick Scobee, Greg Jarvis, Ron McNair and Judith Resnik
President Ronald Reagan in the Oval Office of the White House from his televised address to the nation about the space shuttle Challenger explosion:
"The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honored us by the manner in which they lived their lives. We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and "slipped the surly bonds of earth" to "touch the face of God." "
Posts
2 comments:
I was a little girl when Challenger blew up. My class had sent the Christa McAuliffe's class good luck cards and what not. We watched the launch and explosion on a huge television screen that had been set up for the entrance of the Whitbread Around the World Yachts as they entered Auckland harbour in New Zealand, this is a big Holiday weekend at home. There were hundreds of people gathered as the first boat in was a Kiwi - I'll never forget how the atmosphere went from one of total euphoria to dumbstruck in mere moments. Funny the things that stick with you - today is my 5th wedding anniversary and I can remember talking about the 20th anniversary on my wedding day.
I remember challenger too... thanks for the memories.
Post a Comment