Re: GEN: Need Poem

[Katharine Bruner <brunerk@TEN-NASH.TEN.K12.TN.US>]

Dennis:

The poem you seek was used in the eulogy to the shuttle astronauts who
died in the 1986 disaster.

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.  Hover'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 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.

Katharine Bruner                        Brown Middle School
Library Resources Teacher               5716 Highway 58
brunerk@ten-nash.ten.k12.tn.us          Harrison TN 37341
fax: (423) 344-1471                     (423) 344-1439