"Said Orville Wright to Wilbur Wright,
"These birds are very trying.
I'm sick of hearing them cheep-cheep
About the fun of flying.
A bird has feathers, it is true.
That much I freely grant.
But must that stop us, W?"
Said Wilbur Wright,"It shan't."
And so they built a glider, first,
And then they built another.
-There never were two brothers more
Devoted to each other.
They ran a dusty little shop
For bicycle repairing.
And bought each other soda-pop
And praised each other's daring.
They glided here, they glided there,
They sometimes skinned their noses.
-For learning how to rule the air
Was not a bed of roses-
But each would murmur, afterward,
While patching up his bro.
"Are we discouraged, W?"
Of course we are not, O!"
And finally, at Kitty Hawk
In Nineteen-Three (let's cheer it!),
The first real aeroplane really flew
With Orville there to steer it!
-And kingdoms may forget their kings
And dogs forget their bites,
But not till Man forgets his wings,
Will men forget the Wrights.
-Stephen Vincent Benet
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