An Irish airman Foresees his death - wikipedia An Irish airman Foresees his death Wikisource has original text related to this article : An Irish Airman Foresees his Death An Irish Airman Foresees His Death by William Butler Yeats Written 1918 ( 1918 ) First published in 1919 ( 1919 ) Country Ireland Language English Meter Iambic tetrameter Rhyme scheme ABAB CDCD EFEF GHGH Publisher Macmillan Publication date 1919 ( 1919 ) Media type Paperback Lines 16 OCLC 48380639 Preceded by In Memory of Major Robert Gregory Followed by Men Improve with the Years Read online An Irish Airman Foresees His Death at Wikisource `` An Irish Airman Foresees His Death '' is a poem by Irish poet William Butler Yeats ( 1865 - 1939 ) written in 1918 and first published in the Macmillan edition of The Wild Swans at Coole in 1919. The poem is a soliloquy given by an aviator in the First World War in which the narrator describes the circumstances surrounding his imminent death. The poem is a work that discusses the role of Irish soldiers fighting for the United Kingdom during a time when they were trying to establish independence for Ireland. Wishing to show restraint from publishing political poems during the height of the war, Yeats withheld publication of the poem until after the conflict had ended. Contents 1 Poem 2 Background and interpretation 3 Structure 4 Allusions 5 In popular culture 6 See also 7 References 8 References Poem I know that I shall meet my fate, 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 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. Background and interpretation The airman in the poem is widely believed to be Major Robert Gregory, a friend of Yeats and the only child of Lady Augusta Gregory. Structure The poem contains 16 lines of text arranged in iambic tetrameter. The rhyme scheme is arranged in four quatrains of ABAB. Allusions The poem is featured on the Yeats tribute album Now And In Time To Be, where it is sung by Shane MacGowan of the rock group The Pogues. The British rock group Keane based their song `` A Bad Dream '' ( featured on the album Under the Iron Sea ) on it, and a recording of the poem, read by Neil Hannon of The Divine Comedy, is played before the song at live venues, explaining their reasons for the lyrics. Hannon appeared in person to read it at the Keane gig at The Point Depot in Dublin ( now known as the 3Arena ) on 19 July 2007 and again at The O on 21 July 2007, though the poem 's title and author went unmentioned. In 2011 the poem was included on the Waterboys album ' An Appointment with Mr Yeats ', a collection of Yeats poems set to music by Mike Scott. In popular culture In the movie Memphis Belle, the character Sgt. Danny Daly, a crewman on a Boeing B - 17 Flying Fortress recites the poem, omitting the lines referring to Ireland.. In the movie Congo, Dr. Peter Elliot says that his reason for teaching the ape to talk is `` a lonely impulse of delight. '' The final four lines are quoted in the first episode of the second series of the BBC Three zombie drama In the Flesh by the character Simon Monroe, who is played by Irish actor Emmett J. Scanlan, to Kieren Walker, who is played by the English actor Luke Newberry. The song `` A Bad Dream '' by the English band Keane was inspired by the poem. The song appeared on their second studio album, Under the Iron Sea. In his LP Branduardi canta Yeats ( 1986 ), Angelo Branduardi sings an Italian version of this poem. ' ' The Silence of the Girls ( novel ) ' ' Pat Barker. Penguin Random House 2018. Chapter 20, page 135. Line from poem appears in the body of the text, uncredited and not referenced. `` Some of the girls, mainly those who 'd been slaves in their previous lives, were genuinely indifferent. No likely end would ( sic ) bring them loss, or leave them happier than before. '' See also List of works by William Butler Yeats References Jump up ^ Pierce 2000 p. 274 Jump up ^ Foster 2001 pp. 68 -- 69 Jump up ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCtZfBVS1Tg Jump up ^ Clip of Kieren and Simon 's first meeting on the official BBC website of `` In the Flesh '' References Cole, Sarah. `` The Poetry of Pain ''. The Oxford Handbook of British and Irish War Poetry. Ed Tim Kendall Oxford University Press : 2007 Foster, R.F. The Irish Story : Telling Tales and Making it Up in Ireland. London : Penguin 2001 ISBN 0 - 7139 - 9497 - 5 Pierce, David. Irish writing in the twentieth century : a reader. Cork University Press : 2000 ISBN 978 - 1 - 85918 - 258 - 1 Vendler, Helen. Our Secret Discipline. Cambridge : The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press 2007 ISBN 0 - 674 - 02695 - 0 W.B. Yeats Poetry Volumes The Wanderings of Oisin and Other Poems ( 1889 ) The Countess Kathleen and Various Legends and Lyrics ( 1892 ) In the Seven Woods ( 1903 ) Responsibilities and Other Poems ( 1916 ) The Wild Swans at Coole ( 1919 ) Michael Robartes and the Dancer ( 1921 ) The Tower ( 1928 ) The Winding Stair and Other Poems ( 1933 ) Poems `` Aedh Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven '' `` An Irish Airman Foresees His Death '' `` Adam 's Curse '' `` Blood and the Moon '' `` The Circus Animals ' Desertion '' `` Down by the Salley Gardens '' `` A Drunken Man 's Praise of Sobriety '' `` Easter, 1916 '' `` Ego Dominus Tuus '' `` In Memory of Eva Gore - Booth and Con Markiewicz '' `` Lake Isle of Innisfree '' `` On being asked for a War Poem '' `` Politics '' `` A Prayer for My Daughter '' `` Remorse for Intemperate Speech '' `` The Rose of Battle '' `` The Rose - Tree '' `` Sailing to Byzantium '' `` September 1913 '' `` Song of the Old Mother '' `` The Fiddler of Dooney '' `` The Scholars '' `` The Second Coming '' `` The Song of the Happy Shepherd '' `` The Stolen Child '' `` Swift 's Epitaph '' `` To the Rose upon the Rood of Time '' `` The Tower '' `` Under Ben Bulben `` The Wanderings of Oisin '' `` The Wild Swans at Coole '' Plays Mosada ( 1886 ) The Land of Heart 's Desire ( 1894 ) Diarmuid and Grania ( 1901 ) Cathleen ni Houlihan ( 1902 ) On Baile 's Strand ( 1903 ) The Countess Cathleen ( 1911 ) At the Hawk 's Well ( 1916 ) The Resurrection ( 1927 ) Purgatory ( 1938 ) Other works A Vision ( 1925 ) `` The Curse of the Fires and of the Shadows '' Oxford Book of Modern Verse 1892 -- 1935 ( editor ) People John Butler Yeats ( father ) Susan Pollexfen ( mother ) Jack Butler Yeats ( brother ) Elizabeth Yeats ( sister ) Lily Yeats ( sister ) Maud Gonne ( lover ) Georgie Hyde - Lees ( wife ) Anne Yeats ( daughter ) Michael Yeats ( son ) Related W.B. Yeats bibliography Rhymers ' Club Dun Emer Press Cuala Press An Appointment with Mr Yeats `` Troy '' Thoor Ballylee Samhain magazine Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=An_Irish_Airman_Foresees_His_Death&oldid=860789993 '' Categories : Poetry by W.B. Yeats Aviation media 1918 poems Hidden categories : Articles that link to Wikisource Talk Contents About Wikipedia Italiano Українська Edit links This page was last edited on 23 September 2018, at 02 : 34 ( UTC ). About Wikipedia

Question: who is an irish airman foresees his death about
Answer: an aviator in the First World War