The de Havilland Comet first flew in 1949 as the world's first jet airliner. Its sleek design promised quiet, fast, high-altitude passenger travel. Although later accidents exposed serious structural problems, the Comet began the civil jet age.

The Comet's elegance and tragedy made it a symbol of post-war technological optimism mixed with risk. Jet travel would soon alter poetry's sense of distance, exile, cosmopolitanism, and return.