Another bit 'o poem that I love

[shirebound]

Courage is the price that life exacts for granting peace.
The soul that knows it not,
knows no release from little things;
Knows not the livid loneliness of fear,
Nor mountain heights where bitter joy can hear
The sound of wings.

Amelia Earhart

Comments

[ex_grievous_115]

That is indeed lovely. It's amazing how much poetry can convey with just a few lines isn't it?

One of my favourite poems:

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 sun-lit silence. Hovering 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 nor even 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.

He was only 19 when he died, in the Battle of Britain. I think that moves me more than the poem. To feel like that when you're still a teenager. The past is a different country. They do things differently there

[shirebound]

I remember this from John Denver's song, and from when Challenger exploded. I can never hear or read these lines without getting tears in my eyes. What an incredible piece of writing. I didn't know its origins -- thank you for sharing it!

[ex_grievous_115]

It was written by John Gillespie Magee - 1922-1941 Actually an American, but serving in the RAF. December 11 1941, his Spitfire collided with another plane and he was killed. He was 19. Heartbreaking.

[teasel]

Beautiful! Thank you for sharing that.

[shirebound]

My pleasure!

[gtaotaku]

That is a beautiful poem, with an important message. I can see why you love it.

[shirebound]

The older I get, the more these words mean to me.