O, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth
And pierced the atmosphere on leathern wing;
My kind’s nocturnal ultrasonic mirth
Ne’er touched so high a pitch as this I sing.
Starward I soar into the darkling dome
Where never morning lifts the starry veil;
And is not this my kind’s ancestral home?
Through timeless vaults where nebulae gleam pale
My voice shall sound a last sweet sonar strain;
No human ear shall hear my wish that I
May pass before the Moon’s full-circled pane,
Unfurl my wings, and raise the Signal high.