High Flight

In the end of the octave, the pilot notes how they “flung / [their] eager craft through footless halls of air” (Lines 7-8, emphasis added), suggesting the plane is soaring through the vast reaches of the immense sky. At this point, nearing 33,000 feet, any plane would be out of range of seeing the ground due to the curvature of the Earth. The space is therefore “footless” (Line 8), without a seeming end. Since lift-off is equated with “slip[ing] the surly bonds of Earth” (Line 1), the sky’s “footless” (Line 8) quality is seen as desirable. Further, the word “footless” (Line 8) implies a sense of boundlessness, or freedom from the material world and its demands. This in turn prepares the pilot for their epiphany in the “untrespassed […] space” (Line 13) they encounter later. Letting go of the “bonds of Earth” (Line 1) to enter the “footless halls of air” (Line 8) lets them become open to the holy experience of seeing “the face of God” (Line 14). These “footless halls” (Line 8) thus symbolize the physical and spiritual freedom found in flight.