Did da Vinci write it ?

A recent obituary of a former RCAF veteran included a quotation which both striking and peculiar, viz.,


When once you have tasted flight,
You will forever walk the earth
with your eyes turned skyward,
For there you have been and
there you always long to return.

The passage was attributed to Leonardo da Vinci. Now although I am aware that the great man dabbled in aeronautical design, I know only of model ornithopters that he managed to fly, yet the quotation suggested a person who had already experienced flight. So, I ask, did da Vinci actually write it - or is the attribution wrong ? If wrong, then who was the real author ? And regardless of whether da Vinci or someone else wrote it, can a citation as to its date and source, whether a letter, publication or notebook, be found ? It cries out to be used again in other contexts.

[Darryl]

Hi Hugh,

I don't think he did. I can't find it in any of my references. However, he did make this statement:

"A man with wings large enough and duly attached might learn to overcome the resistance of the air, and in conquering it succeed in subjigating it and raise himself upon it."

Merry Christmas

Darryl

I checked Stephenson's "Macmillan Book of Proverbs, Maxims and Famous Phrases" as well as Bartlett's Familiar Quotations- Both do not yield your quote, certainly not under DaVinci.
If this obit. was in a newspaper or journal, I would suggest a check with the publication.
Incidently, since you seem interested in these type of quotes, I can share another that was made at a funeral for an RCAF member.
When wild the head-winds beat
Thy Sovereign Will commanding
Bring those who dare to fly
To a safe landing.
by Duncan Campbell Scott (1862-1947)
from 'Hymn for those in the air' written to the Royal Canadian Air Force (stanza 2)