High Flight Poem Blue
High Flight Poem Blue Art.
High Flight is a 1941 sonnet written by war poet John Gillespie Magee Jr. and inspired by his experiences as a fighter pilot of the Royal Canadian Air Force in World War II. Magee began writing the poem on 18 August, while stationed at No. 53 OTU outside London, and mailed a completed manuscript to his family on 3 September, three months before he died in a training accident. Originally published in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, it was widely distributed when Magee became one of the first post-Pearl Harbor American casualties of the war on 11 December, after which it was exhibited at the American Library of Congress in 1942. Owing to its gleeful and ethereal portrayal of aviation, along with its allegorical interpretation of death and transcendence, the poem has been featured prominently in aviation memorials across the world.
High Flight Poem Blue vintage style military travel poster art by Squadron Posters!
While piloting a Spitfire Mk I, Magee reached 33,000 feet (10,000 m) during a training flight over Wales sometime in August 1941. He was impressed by the speed and agility of the aircraft, and moved by the experience of flying at that altitude. He wrote to his parents that he completed the poem soon after finishing training that day. The first person to read Magee’s poem later that same day in the officers’ mess was fellow Pilot Officer Michael Henry Le Bas (later Air Vice-Marshal M. H. Le Bas, Air Officer Commanding No. 1 Group RAF), with whom Magee had trained. Magee enclosed the poem in a letter to his parents, dated 3 September 1941. His father, then curate of Saint John’s Episcopal Church in Washington, DC, reprinted it in church publications. The poem became more widely known through the efforts of Archibald MacLeish, then Librarian of Congress, who included it in an exhibition of poems called “Faith and Freedom” at the Library of Congress in February 1942. The manuscript copy of the poem remains at the Library of Congress.
Squadron Posters offers the world’s largest collection of Squadron Specific Art! Check out our stunning vintage style military aviation themed travel posters, honoring All Branches of Service. Our artwork not only represents aircraft, armored cavalry, or ships, it represents adventure and travel. This means we create posters featuring the Space Needle, New Orleans, the Golden Gate Bridge, Mt Rushmore and the National Mall. Of course, McChord AFB isn’t in Seattle but if you’re stationed there your adventure surely involves the Space Needle! (See our Facebook page HERE)
This is what makes Squadron Posters different–it’s about remembering where you’ve lived and what you’ve seen with a vintage themed travel poster. – Collect your travels and tell your story!
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