Did the Greeks then weep for Icarus
gone down among waters in the wintry sun?
Too late now the sorrowing waves
below Coniston's woods.
He cleaved the sea with an airplane's prow,
knife edged furrows on glassy surfaces
screeching like the owls of fate
for the stars were wrong.
Lost venturer in forbidden lands,
record breaker broken on the wheel
his father made, split
by an old man's dream, proving the point of it.
The last laugh was nature's on this death ride,
the roar of his engines stifled now down among deep waters,
one son, the valiant,
gone down among memories.
Look now, staid citizens, upon these brave men
sons of Daedalus, knowing no barriers,
aquanauts and astronauts,
exploits beyond reason and cold stars,
not last your sorrows, nor the first.
Sea and sky are witness to their remains,
unsigned signatures
beyond man and time.
In memoriam : Donald Campbell January 4th 1967.