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. Hovering 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 wind-swept 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.

refrence????????

asking for a reference , so does that mean you like the poem? I certainly would have appreciated more if you first wrote down what you had thought of the poem , then asked for a reference, or the name of the poet, or where I saw it first. nevertheless, here is the answer to your half-way complete question : John Gillespie Magee, a pilot with the Royal Canadian Air Force in the Second World War. it is called the high flier, many people quoted his lines , they were engraved on tombtones of many fallen pilots.

Magee started writing the poem at 30000 feet and finished soon after landing. very same lines can be seen at his tomstone too.

now that you had what you asked for or at least I hope so, it wouldnt be asking too much if you wrote down what you think of it

Now that I know that this poem is written by a pilot, it makes me consider it with different eyes and I think: "Wow! Must be great to fly and to write down what it feels like!" It is very nice but BECAUSE you added that information, you know? Otherwise it wouldn't be very authentic....
Thanks 4 sharing...

Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.


All pilots feel like that, when they fly on the air; dont they?

One More Roll
CMDR Jerry Coffee

We toast our hearty comrades
Who have fallen from the skies
And were gently caught by God's own hand
To be with Him on high.
To dwell among the soaring clouds
They've known so well before
From victory roll to tail chase
At heaven's very door.

As we fly among them there
We're sure to hear their plea,
To take care my friend, check your six,
And do one more roll just for me.


cant really trace the origins of this poem, I personally dont know the Comdr Jerry. gathering from his rank, he must be US Navy. I dont really care who he really is but sure as hell know one thing that his poem is full of courage, camaraderie and trust.

valla biz konuya fıransız kaldık biraz nelerden bahsediyorsunuz tek kelimesini bile anlamadım valla şöyle altına birde türkçesini yazsanız merak ta bırakmayın bizi sağlıcakla kalın...

pardon eşşeklik ettim size iyi muhabbetler jeton sonradan düştü

valla biz konuya fıransız kaldık biraz nelerden bahsediyorsunuz tek kelimesini bile anlamadım valla şöyle altına birde türkçesini yazsanız merak ta bırakmayın bizi sağlıcakla kalın...
Ahaaaaaaaaaaaa, ingiliz forumu oldugunu görmedin, hemi? Neyse ederiz tercümani dost, yeterki sen iste. Aklimda olsun, yarin felan yaparim, simdi gec oldu ; )))

asking for a reference , so does that mean you like the poem? I certainly would have appreciated more if you first wrote down what you had thought of the poem , then asked for a reference, or the name of the poet, or where I saw it first. nevertheless, here is the answer to your half-way complete question : John Gillespie Magee, a pilot with the Royal Canadian Air Force in the Second World War. it is called the high flier, many people quoted his lines , they were engraved on tombtones of many fallen pilots.

Magee started writing the poem at 30000 feet and finished soon after landing. very same lines can be seen at his tomstone too.

now that you had what you asked for or at least I hope so, it wouldnt be asking too much if you wrote down what you think of it

alright then since you want to know.................:uhhm:
the first impressions i got from the poem was actually quite positive. I must admit however, that the descriptions of the poets life changed my views slightly....:3D_NG (6)

i guess you want to know why.....:3D_NG (7)
well to start off with taking into concideration that the poet was a pilot during the second world war than clearly he is taking part in a horrific thing (war, does it ring a bell, war=death)....yet the poet describes his experience as being so magnificant that it fells as if he is touchig the face of God. to me this poem resembles war propanganda.used to persuade young men to join the army.......'join the air forces and have fun:3D_NG (9) '...

with out the background information the poem is ok.........

Hmm, do you really think it means war, death etc...??? Oooooooopssssssssss, I didn't have that impresiion at all!! That bell didin't ring in my mind, the war bell is missing in my head... hahaha.... If that pilot is a war ppilot and if he is dead, how can he write a poem then??

war propaganda, well that must be one helluva poem to give that message, because that never crossed my mind, it seems like I am not alone in thinking that way, then again we are entitled to our opinions. the poem is ok if he wasnt a war pilot , right. so if a soldier wrote a poem about friendship and trust, does that mean he cant be really meaning it from the depths of his heart? he is simply using it o attract more death dealer? or he is simply telling what he has come to experience, how hardship and danger bring men closer, how he finds no meaning of the deaths of people around him, but the moments he spent living next to his friends. my point is just because the writer is a fighter pilot doesnt make him an evil genius so as to go to lenghts to write poems with the aim of attracting people to air force and army. on a second thought he might, but this poem does not one bit make me join the air force, but make me wanna experience what it would be like to fly, be them, in glider, prop planes or jets.

war is a terrible thing we dont wanna hear about let alone have it at our door step, but it s a reality,a painful one though. I can imagine a world free of death and destruction but cant have it in real life, I guess we will never have, it is in human's nature to set on eachother with feeble excuses

Hello sphinx,

I just read the poem in question and as I was reading it, for some weird reason a story appeared in my head. This particular story helped me to sympathise with the character in the poem. I dont know if you have heard of this story, maybe you might think it has no relevance at all. Nonetheless, I will tell it.

I'm sure you have heard of Ali Kirca, well, in his latest album he dedicates one of his tracks to a tragedy that occurred in the 1940's (i'm really not sure on the date), anyway, what happened was a submarine collided (with what I dont know) and a lot of people died, however, about 10 workers were able to shelter themselves in a really small compartment in the submarine. They were able to make contact with the outside world and when they did they were told that help was on the way and that they shouldnt talk to each other, sing or even smoke so that they wouldnt consume all the oxygen in the small room. They did as they were told and hours later...they recieved another message...you can sing, smoke and talk. Help was not on its way, they were to die. Others in their situation would have probably paniced but these guys were so calm, they left their families messages of love and respect and then cut off the cable that formed contact with the outside world.

This is an amazing story, a true story, everytime i hear it shivers go down my spine. It is one of those things that get to you emotionally and morally. It is a feeling that you cannot control. This is the feeling that I got from the poem.

Its not so much about death but what the characters (the pilot and the workers in the submarine) were feeling at that point in time.

Anyway, I dont why but I felt the need to share this:)


Shaman

war is a terrible thing we dont wanna hear about

Yes, that's why I said: THAT bell is missing in my head... hahaha

..touching the face of God.

(Pour Natasha de Lyon 1/10/6)

It could be that I am
Very far from home.

For my eyes can no longer construe
The brumous flickering spectre
That was once the city

From this high-flown perch of solitude.

Here in this deserted place
Which she has chosen for me

It could be that the earth
Has abandoned my step to the wind
And my grasp to capricious aether
And obscurity..

And it could be
That the stars have become much closer
And as numerous as the trickling grains
Which brand the hours...

I too shall grow wings.
~

C. Lee
(Le Désert Vert © 2006)

that s what flying makes you feel like, Buddy. thanks for this beautiful poem.

I d like to make a contribution too
am the eagle, I live in high country,
In rocky cathedrals that reach to the sky,
I am the hawk and there's blood on my feathers,
But time is still turning, they soon will be dry,
And all those who see me, and all who believe in me,
Share in the freedom I feel when I fly!

Come dance with the west wind,
And touch all the mountain tops,
Sail o'er the canyons, and up to the stars,
And reach for the heavens, and hope for the future,
And all that we can be, not what we are.

— John Denver