Discuss Ways in Which Yeats Presents the Airman in an Irish Airman Foresees His Death
An Irish Airman foresees his death is about a man who has no opinion on the war, ‘those I fight I do not hate, those I guard I do not love’ this is ironic as he has no feeling as to who wins the war yet he is fighting for one side. The theme of the poem is simple and he structure is unbroken and composed, this is contrasts the idea of the poem as the airman knows he is going to die, ‘I know I shall meet my fate’ and therefore the calmness of the poem and the calmness of the airman is seen as peculiar as other people in this situation would be more panicked which is why the airman stands out as he keeps his mind at ease and reflects on his life. The airman who is thought to be Major Robert Gregory shows that he thinks that the war does not make sense to him at all and does not care who wins the war or who loses, as he does not see one as an enemy or one as an ally, ‘those that I fight I do not hate, those that I guard I do not love’ his feelings towards them are so because he lives in a sheltered part of Ireland and he implies if he was going to pick a place to fight for he would pick his hometown, ‘my country is Kiltartan Cross, my countrymen Kiltartan’s poor’ this shows that he is not loyal to Ireland but yet to the people who he sees on a daily basis and the people he cares about in Kiltartan Cross. The war also does not affect the people of Kiltartan Cross as they have nothing left to lose, ‘no likely end could bring them loss. Or leave them happier then before’ this shows that the airman wants to change how badly the people of Kiltartan Cross have been living as there was severe civil war in Ireland, and that the end of the current world war will not affect the state that Ireland is left in. The airman suggests that he did not fight to be labeled as brave and courageous, ‘nor law nor duty bade me fight, nor public men, nor cheering crowds’ this suggests that the airman has not signed up for war because for other people’s expectations or because he was forced to