A man so various, that he seemed to be, Not one, but all mankind's epitome. - John Dryden

An Irish Airman Foresees His Death

by W.B Yeats

1. I know that I shall meet my fate
 2. Somewhere among the clouds above;
 3. Those that I fight I do not hate,
 4. Those that I guard I do not love;
5. My country is Kiltartan Cross,
 6. My countrymen Kiltartan's poor,
 7. No likely end could bring them loss
 8. Or leave them happier than before.
 9. Nor law, nor duty bade me fight,
 10. Nor public men, nor cheering crowds,
 11. A lonely impulse of delight
 12. Drove to this tumult in the clouds;
 13. I balanced all, brought all to mind,
 14. The years to come seemed waste of breath,
 15. A waste of breath the years behind
 16. In balance with this life, this death.

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Click on a line to see some annotations. 1. I believe this suggests that death was coming to him one way or another. 2. I'm surprised people like this would even get in the sky. He's not interested to the glory of battle and his deathwish wouldn't exactly inspire confidence in how much effort he'd put in with the whole fighting back part of the war. 3. Something most servicemen would agree with. 4. Hey, we all have our reasons to fight. He's no different. 5. Irish patriotism at its best. 6. One of Connellys ilk, no doubt. 7. Guy must have been suicidal to go in with an attitude like that. 8. Yeats knew that the war wouldn't have any impact on the ordinary Irish person. 9. Ridiculous that laws ever made anyone fight. Conscription...what a a joke. 10. Cheering crowds: Not interested Cheering broads: Different story ;) 11. Fuck this site!!! 12. Clouds making a reappearance from here from line 2. 13. If I was the pilot in this poem, I wouldn't be making rational decisions unless I had a bottle of Jameson taken. 14. Great line. 15. A waste of breath; the war that was being fought. 16. I'll never understand those who chase death.