High flight

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. Hov’ring there,
I’ve chased the shouting wind along and flung
My eager craft through footless hall of air
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I’ve topped the windswept 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.

Jeune pilote américain engagé dans les forces aériennes canadiennes durant la 2ème guerre mondiale. Il mourut en Angleterre le 11 décembre 1941 aux commande de son Spitfire. Il avait 19 ans.