| Materials: | Acrylic on Canvas |
| Size: | 24" x 24" |
| Creation Date: | October 2009 |
| Disposition: | Private collection |
| Comments: | February 23, 2009 saw the 100th anniversary of flight in
Canada. In commemoration of that, and of the service of the men and women of the
Royal Canadian Air Force, I painted a memorial window. The window appears rather
grubby and neglected. So too, alas, are our memories of our veterans' service. The words in the painting are the opening of the poem "High Flight" by Pilot Officer John G. Magee, Jr., an Anglo-American who enlisted in the RCAF in 1940. He was killed in a flying accident in Britain on December 11, 1941, just a few months after writing this poem. |
|
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 windswept heights with easy grace Where never lark, or even eagle flew – And, while the silent lifting mind I’ve trod The high untrespassed sanctity of space, put out my hand and touched the face of God. |
|
| John Gillespie Magee, Jr. 3 September 1941 |
Back to Remembrance Show home page
Copyright © E. Clare Stewart