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375

''High Flight'' Poem

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles Start Price:1,000.00 USD
''High Flight'' Poem
British aviator John Gillespie Magee’s immortal poem “High Flight” on parchment, flown on the Apollo 15 lunar mission. Apollo 15 astronaut Jim Irwin writes in upper left: “This Copy was / Flown to the Moon / on Flight of Apollo 15 / 26 July – 7 Aug 71.” He inscribed in the upper right: “To Mr. Chaffee / in Memory of Roger / who made our / flight to the / Moon possible. / Jim Irwin / Apollo 15” and drew a little crescent moon. Also signed by the mission’s Command Module Pilot “Al Worden / Apollo 15.” “High Flight” measures 8.5'' x 11'' and reads in its entirety,

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 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.”

Accompanied by a letter of provenance dated 25 February 1976 signed by Irwin and addressed to Hugh F. Kuehl that reads in full, “I have taken the liberty of answering your letter to Dr. Rittenhouse [High Flight President] since he is on the road with the mobile museum. I was distressed to learn of Mr. Chaffee’s difficulty. I wonder about the commitment that he made to Roger. I am sure that Roger would not want his father to struggle to this degree to fulfill a promise. Yes, we shall pray for Mr. Chafee that he will receive God’s will for his life. I will be happy to donate a copy of the High Flight poem that I carried to the moon. I have inscribed it in an appropriate manner. His grateful servant, Jim Irwin.” Lot also includes two autograph letters signed by Irwin to space author Tony Cipriano who previously owned the poem, and a photocopy of a letter by Roger’s Chaffee’s father regarding the promise he made to his son. 18 February 1976 letter reads in part, “These past nine years I have kept a promise that I made to my son Astronaut Roger B. Chaffee that I would do what I could for the Space Program and though it has been very costly to me I have never regretted my actions. Corey Ford said, ‘The past never changes, you leave it and go to the present, but it is still there, waiting for you to come back.’ I would like to add yes, and to profit by its experiences and learn from its lessons not to make the same mistakes. And to inspire young people to strive for a better life. I want the world to know that I very much appreciate the efforts of the International Association of Space Philatelists in helping me to carry on this program of explaining to the general public the many benefits to mankind resulting from the Space program.” A poignant and unique archive for the serious space collector.
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