English Literature

Language combined with a defined way of writing can be used by a poet such that the end result would be one that would leave the reader literally visualizing the content. This the author achieves as he takes us with him as he explores the sky in his aircraft whilst also taking in the vastness of it all. The poem, a sonnet as exhibited by its fourteen line structure has a feel of what it would be like being in a plane that is maneuvering in various directions. The poem itself seems to twirl and dart and soar like a plane in the sky. In the last four lines you can actually feel the plane fly slowly higher and higher (Bagman 2007).Examples of alliteration include oh i have slipped the surly bonds of earth, sunward ive climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth, up, up the long, delirious, burning blue and and, while with silent lifting mind ive trod etc.

The meaning of the poem centers mainly on the joys of flying. It almost seems as though the author wants those who will never have that opportunity to fly to experience how it would be and what a life changing experience it is. The subject of this poem is an aircraft as he refers to it in line 2 as and danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings. Images conjured up include the vastness of space when he talks of ive chased the shouting wind along, and flung my eager craft through footless halls of air. The immense joy of the pilot can be discerned as he attests to this by saying that he and danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings. Rhyming is also seen in every other line i.e. the end syllables of the first and third line are the same-earth and mirth as are for lines five and seven-swung and flung respectively.

HIGH FLIGHT by JOHN MAGEE

This is a visually stimulating poem on what it must be like to be in flight and to take in the incredible sights. The grand nature of it all seems to have given the pilot some introspection such that he wants to reach beyond and comprehend it all.