Somewhere among the clouds above;
Those that I fight I do not hate,
Those that I guard I do not love;
My country is Kiltartan's cross,
My countrymen Kiltartan's poor,
No likely end could bring them loss
Or leave them happier than before.
Nor law, nor duty bade me fight,
Nor public men, nor cheering crowds,
A lonely impulse of delight
Drove to this tumult in the clouds;
I balanced all, brought all to mind,
The years to come seemed waste of breath,
A waste of breath the years behind
In balance with this life, this death.
I kind of like this poem as it's written from an interesting point of view. Yeats is writing from an Irish pilot who is going to die. It's practically written as a fact in the poem: "An Irish Airman Foresees His Death" as the title and "I know that I shall meet my fate." It's undebatable: the dude is going to die.
ReplyDeleteSo, when you KNOW you're going to die, you must have something interesting to say, right?
The pilot goes on the explain why he's in the war, and I think what he's trying to say is that he doesn't hate the people's he's fighting, but rather he loves his country so much that he's willing to fight anyway ("Nor law, nor duty bade me fight.") As well, he says that he's not doing it for fame or glory (nor public men, nor cheery crowds) but for the "lonely impulse of delight" of flying.
I can't quite figure out the rest of the poem, but he seems to be quite at peace with the idea of his death.
Anyway, I really liked this poem Adrian, and it fits well with your theme. It's also a nice contrast from your other poems, many of which are written from an archaic/medieval point of view.