Hi Dave
You are thinking of the poem "High Flight" by Canadian poet John Gillespie Magee, Jr. (1922–1941) that Reagan quoted from at the time of the Challenger disaster. I consciously referenced it at the beginning of my poem.
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 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 have trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
- Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.
John Gillespie Magee, Jr.
Per the
Wikipedia entry about the poet, "Ronald Reagan quoted from 'High Flight' in his speech (written by Peggy Noonan) that followed the Challenger disaster on January 28, 1986. He quoted: ...'slipped the surly bonds of Earth' to 'touch the face of God.'"
Chris
Poetry Forums
