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 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
John was a pilot with the Canadian Air Force and wrote this poem, which he sent to his parents, when he was 19 years old. He died some 6 months later, on December 11, 1941.
In tribute to all the men and women of the Canadian Armed Forces, past, present and future who put it all on the line in the hope of a higher good and a better future for us all.
