Literary Techniques In John Gillespie Magee's 'High Flight'

English Sonnets Essay
Poets usually write poems in order to communicate ideas or views to readers. In the two poems, “High Flight” (John Gillespie Magee) and “Suburban Sonnet” (Gwen Harwood), the poets are trying to convey their experiences and lives.
In the poem, “High Flight”, the poet uses various techniques such as active verbs, imagery, personification, a metaphor, exaggeration, alliteration, and symbolism in order to portray his joyful experience as he test- flies a new plane.
Active verbs like ‘’slipped’’, ‘‘danced’’, ‘‘wheeled’’ and ‘‘soared’’ are utilised frequently by the poet in order to convey the sense of action and movement that he himself is feeling as he flies the plane. Combined with the use of verbs such as ‘’Hov’ring’’, the active verbs also emphasising the variety of movements that the plane is able to make, further showing his experiences on the plane.
Imagery is also used by the poet. “Sun-split clouds” is used to describe what the poet is seeing, the action of the sun breaking through the clouds. By describing exactly what he is seeing, his experience is being communicated effectively.
This emphasises the joy and eagerness of the pilot himself by suggesting that his emotions may be so strong that they are overflowing into the world around him, in this case, his craft. “Laughter- silvered wings” is another example of personification in the poem. It also shows how the poet’s own emotions are being projected into the world around him, thus emphasising his emotions and personal experience. The poet also uses “delirious burning blue” in order to reinforce how overwhelmed with joy he is that it is spreading to the surrounding environment, in this case, the blue