High Flight/Low Flight
John Gillespie Magee’s justly famous High Flight has inspired several knock-offs, two of which are published at https://military-history.fandom.com/wiki/Low_Flight. Magee’s poem, which is in the public domain, is shown below. It is followed by a revision of one of those knock-offs, modified to conform it to the poetic meter and rhyming pattern of the Magee’s original sonnet and to honor those who flew and crewed helicopters in Vietnam and later in Iraq and Afghanistan.
by John Gillespie Magee, Jr.
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 nor ever 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.
by Kenneth H. Johnson[1]
Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And beat the air on blurred rotating wings;
Downward I’ve plunged, to miss the angry burst
Of deadly guns—and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of—whopped and flopped and hung
Low in the smoke and fire. Hov’ring there,
I’ve blessed the armored seat ‘neath butt, and flung
My pounding bird[2] through fetid humid air . . .
Down, down to flat-hat[3] as forbade to do
I’ve topped the General’s hedge with drooping turns[4]
Where ne’er Skyhawk[5] nor ever Phantom[6] flew—
And, while with silent screaming mind I flee
The low much trespassed lunacy that burns,
Put out my hand, and touched a shattered tree.
[1] Kenneth H. Johnson, Major, U. S. Marine Corps (Retired).
[2] Military pilots often refer to their aircraft as “birds.”
[3] To flat-hat is to fly fast at very low altitude. Fun, but forbidden to
military pilots except when required by the mission.
[4] To droop turns is to cause loss of all-important rotor RPM by
demanding more power than the engine(s) can deliver.
[5] The Douglas A-4 Skyhawk was a workhorse attack and
close air support aircraft of the Vietnam era.
[6] The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom was a jet interceptor and
fighter-bomber used extensively in Vietnam both for air supremacy
over the battle space and for close air support of ground troops.