Critical Commentary
“First, there is the precision of the diction itself, mimicking gently the precision of the flying machine. But within this precision lurks a music. The ear of the poet hears consonants so sharply they sound as if wind-whipped ropes, and the ease of the alliteration comes with surprising gentleness. This is to say, at the level of word-craft, the poet pays real attention. The words also speak meaningfully, seeking through history for that human constant that makes of a wild-minded flying machine a realization not of human folly alone, but the hope that accompanies folly. For all the potential danger of knowing too much—“And that is all we want”—there is a humbler realization always at work, one indebted to imagination, that undercuts the poem’s reach after wisdom with the more human consolations of our heretic nature.”
-----Dan Beachy-Quick, judge Arapahoe Community College Writer’s Studio Literary Contest 2012 First Place Winner, Theory of Flight, Circa 1709.
