18 pages • 36 minutes read
High Flight
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Themes
The Power of Romantic Awe
In many ways, “High Flight” can be seen as a poem written in the Romantic tradition of poetry, as it celebrates the beauty of nature and touches on the sublime. For the Romantics, the sublime was an extraordinary experience that often took place in a natural setting, inspiring emotions of awe. John Gillespie Magee Jr.’s poem is made more modern by its use of an airplane as the vehicle for this experience, but the poem’s speaker still undergoes a sense of the sublime through reaching the heights of the sky.
The emphasis on nature is prominent as the plane “dance[s] the skies” (Line 2) and the poet is transfixed by moving “[s]unward” (Line 3). When the pilot describes their surroundings, the language that is used is that of exaltation. They join the “tumbling mirth / of sun-split clouds” (Lines 3-4) and admire the “footless halls of air” (Line 8) before gliding into the “delirious, burning blue” (Line 9). This focus on beauty culminates in the description of “the wind-swept heights” (Line 10) the plane reaches. Through the unique experience of the pilot’s ascension to such high altitudes, the natural landscape of the air is depicted as extraordinary.
This causes the pilot to recognize the moment of their climb as sublime. The beginning “Oh!” (Line 1) gives an indication of their sense of awe, as the exclamation conveys surprise and strong emotion. As they ascend, they note that this is an “untrespassed” (Line 13) area, unreachable by most humans and most beasts. They understand they are privileged to experience this view, able to “[do] a hundred things / [others] have not dreamed of” (Lines 4-5). This is particularly clear at the end of the poem when they appreciate the “sanctity of space” (Line 13) which they can nearly touch. In this moment, they understand that the landscape brings them as close to “God” (Line 14) or the Divine, as they can reach, a fact which “lift[s]” (Line 12) their thoughts. This experience of awe is a mental “high flight” that mirrors the “eager craft[’s]” (Line 8) trajectory, transforming the flight into both a physical and spiritual experience.
The Experience of Spiritual Awakening
Although the poem is often used to talk about the beauty of flight, it can also be read in a more spiritual way. In this reading, the pilot’s soul has left its mortal body and is traversing to the afterlife. This is not a moment of pain, however, as in the ultimate conclusion they “touc[h] the face of God” (Line 14) and find comfort in their heavenly surroundings.
The poem begins with the speaker confronting their own death, which has enabled them to “have slipped the surly bonds of Earth” (Line 1). This is not something that causes the pilot remorse. Instead, they “danc[e] the skies” (Line 2) and “Sunward […] clim[b]” (Line 3), happy and joyful. They have grown wings like an angel and join the “tumbling mirth / of sun-split clouds” (Lines 3-4), images which fit into Christian conceptions of Heaven. The pilot flings their “eager craft through footless halls of air” (Line 8), seemingly suggesting that their body no longer desires corporeal grounding, but is now content to rest within the clouds, enjoying the “sunlit silence” (Line 6) that lies between them.
In the octave, the pilot’s soul ascends further toward heaven, and goes “Up, up the long delirious burning blue” (Line 9) toward celestial bliss. They surpass earthly creatures that can soar, birds like the “lark” and “eagle” (Line 11). These birds, which are also symbols in Christianity, cannot fly as high as the speaker, suggesting that they are a true disciple. The lark, representing the song of praise, and the eagle, representing the ability to understand revelation, are surpassed by the speaker. The pilot/disciple’s reward is to see “the face of God” (Line 14) and “put out [a] hand, and touc[h]” God’s face. In this way, the poem is about the individual quest toward faith rather than just the experience of high-altitude flying. The experience causes spiritual transcendence for the speaker, and they leave the mortal world behind.
Divine Blessing During War
As the poem was enclosed in a letter to his parents, the speaker of the poem might well be Magee himself, who noted that the sonnet was “a verse I wrote the other day. It started at 30,000 feet and was soon finished after I landed” (See: Further Reading & Resources). Traditionally, the poem is seen as an exploration of the sublime experience of flight and/or spiritual awakening. However, it can also be seen in the context of a young soldier’s place within a catastrophic war.
Prior to his enlistment in the RCAF, Magee was a pacifist. However, when he realized his beloved England was at risk, he decided to join the war effort. This, however, did not necessarily eliminate any ambiguity of feeling. Even as he supported the cause and felt deeply patriotic, he could also experience a sense of trouble regarding the loss of human lives during battle. While the poem’s first stanza details the exhilarating quality of solo flight, the fact remains that the pilot occupies a Spitfire—a fighter plane that was used to elude or fight German enemies in World War II (See: Background). Battle is thus always on the horizon despite the reprieve of the clouds into which the pilot climbs.
The second stanza of the poem holds multiple epiphanies: how high the flight is, the awe of the experience and the surrounding nature, and thoughts of inevitable mortality. This sense of mortality is heightened by the fact of war. While sure of his role in the RCAF, Magee—and/or his pilot speaker—might be wondering about the actions he is taking, his place in the overall Allied cause, and his potential death. In this case, the line noting that he has “done a thousand things / You have not dreamed of” (Lines 4-5) could refer to war deeds rather than just a joyous flight. In the end, in his Spitfire, the pilot encounters the sense that he is given divine benediction and approval as he finds he may “put out [his] hand, and touc[h] the face of God” (Line 14), allowing him to draw close to the Divine. This sense of a spiritual encounter may thus give him a sense of justification and reassurance not just for his flight, but for his overall mission in the war.
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