W. B.YEATS: AN IRISH AIRMAN FORESEE HIS DEATH
W. B. YEATS:
AN IRISH AIRMAN FORSEE HIS DEATH
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;
5 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,
10 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
15 A waste of breath the years behind
In
balance with life, this death.
Poet’s
background
William Butler Yeats, poet
and dramatist, was born at Sandymouth via Dublin on the 13th of
June, 1915. He spent much of his childhood in London, where he was educated at
the Godolphin in Hammersmith. He later studied at the Erasmus Smith School in
Dublin. Yeats’ exclusive preference for reading must have greatly prepared him
for his literary career, though his works are introduced by his studies in mysticism,
his love life, and his socio-political involvement in the governance of
Ireland.
He left Dublin for London in
1887 and became associated with ‘decadent’ writers believed to write for the
Yellow Book. Yeats was a versatile and a prolific writer who published many
books, a few of which are: The Wonderings Oisin (1889), a book of poems on
Irish legendry themes; The Countess Kathleen (1892), and The Land of Heart’s
Desire (1894) which plays; and a volume of essays called The Celtic Twilight
(1893). He co-founded two literary groups: The
Rhymer’s Club, and the Irish
Literary Theatre, otherwise known as the Abbey Theatre. To sustain theatre, he wrote many plays and encouraged
others to write. His plays include, Kathleen
ni Houlihan (1902), The Pot of Broth (1902), The Hour Glass (1903), and The
King’s Threshold (1904). In 1921, he wrote four plays for Dancer’s and between
1922 and 1928, he was a member of the Irish Senate. All this made him the
natural choice for compiling The Oxford Book of Modes Verse (1936)
He became further
established in 1923 when he was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature. He died
on January, 28, 1939 at Roquebrune, France.
BACKGROUND
TO THE POEM
This poem is meant to honour
the memory of Major Robert George, who fell on the battlefield in Italy during
the First World War in January, 1918. Major George was the son of Lady Isabella
George, Yeats’ literary associate who co-founded the Irish Literary Theatre
with him. In appreciation of the useful impact of Lady George in his literary
development; especially his introduction to Irish cultural settings and
tradition, Yeats uses this poem to pay tribute to a gallant soldier who never
saw the end of the war.
The poet uses this
opportunity to reflect on the wasteful destruction of lives and property that
accompanies war. At the universal level, the poem subtly articulates the fact
that many combatant soldiers fight a war that does not directly affect them in
any way.
No likely end could bring them loss
Or leave
them happier than before
Nor public
men, nor cheering crowds.
The major theme of this poem
is that life and death are complementarily, rather than diametrically, opposed.
The theme that war is always attended by catastrophe, personal and public
tragedies is also subtly expressed in the fact that war brings nothing but
‘waste of breath’. That is, death and destruction are inevitably bound to war.
FORM AND
STRUCTURE
This is also a sixteen-line poem like Robinson’s
‘Richard Cory’. ‘An Irish Airman Foreseen His Death’ is not stanzaed. Though
with a different rhyme scheme, this poem has alternated rhyme like Robinson’s
Richard Cory. The rhyme scheme of Yeats’ An Irish Airman Foreseen His Death’ is
abab, cdcd, acac, efef. The entire poem is written in two loosely coordinated
sentences. The first sentence (Line 1- 8), and the second sentence (Line 9 –
10) make prominent use of noun clauses and correlative conjunctions,
respectively. There is also the glaring and fascinating use of structural parallelism:
Those that I fight I do not hate,
Those
that I guard I do not;
Nor
law, nor duty…
Nor
public men, nor cheering crowds.
The carefully choose structural pattern of this poem
gives it rhythm which enhances its lyricism.
LANGUAGE AND TECHNIQUE
The language of this poem is easily accessible both
lexically and structurally. The diction is simple and most of the lines are
independent clauses. The simplicity of the language, as well as the technique
of the first person narrative account employed in the use of poetic persona,
makes the poem more vivid and interesting. In spite of its simplicity of
language, the poem uses some figurative elements to heighten its poetic
quality. Among such figures used are:
Anthesis: Line 3 and 4
Alliteration: Line 1, 5 and 13
Assonance: Line 3 and 4
Euphemism: Line 1, 14 and 16
Synecdoche: Line 2 and 12
On the whole, the persona expresses the inevitability
of death; envisages his own ultimate and tragic end in war which he, on his own
volition, decides to be involved:
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;
REVISION QUESTIONS
1.
Compare and
contrast the language and technique of Robinson’s ‘Richard Cory’ and Yeats’ ‘An
Irish Airman Foresees His Death’.
2.
Examine the
thematic concern of Owen’s ‘Futility’ and Yeats’ ‘An Irish Airman Foresees His
Death’.
3.
What is the
attitude of the persona in Yeast’s ‘An Irish Airman Foresees His Death”.
4.
Apart from the
figure of speech already highlighted, give more examples of figurative
expressions used in the poem.
5.
Is this a lyrical
poem?
By Eguriase S. M. Okaka
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