W.B.Yeats 'An Irish Airman Foresees His Death' -

An Irish Airman Foresees His Death
-W.B.Yates read by Aiden Gillen
rnaudioproductions
http://www.allcast.co.uk/

William Butler Yeats (1865 - 1939)
Irish poet, dramatist and prose writer, one of the greatest English-language poets of the 20th century. Yeats received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1923. Between the Celtic dreams of THE WANDERINGS OF OISIN (1889) and the intellectual, often obscure poetry of the 1930s, Yeats produced a tremendous amount of works.


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.

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Audio created by Robert Nichol AudioProductions all rights reserved

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[missy621a]

Great poem

unfortunately that plane wasnt around when the poem was writen

should have used a biplane

;)

[JustAudio2008]

I know -but I could not find a good picture of that time -and as the poem is about war,death & human feelings I thought this worked .

But I did know someone would point this out one day.

-a biplane would have looked too gentle in this modern world.

-Romantic even - So I went for this plane of war -hope it did not spoil it for you.

[miii]

wow

(************

[JustAudio2008]

it's powerful and moving stuff is'nt it

[Chessynrae]

good interpretation of this great poem!

but I'm afraid it's W.B.Yeats, not Yates.

[JustAudio2008]

Oops sorry,thanks for pointing it out,I will confess to a little Dyslexia - And If I change it now your comment will make no sense -so thanks again will get the name right on the next one

[DarthVader3530]

I Love this poem. Well Done, Well done

[Celticsnow1995]

Thanks for this. I love the poem and I'm studying it for my J.C English exam tomorrow. It definitely helps to hear it being read aloud. Well done :)

[GallagherWellerBrown]

Terrible reading. Should be quicker. This is a carefully metred, euphoric poem.

[captmark97]

The photo of the Hurrybird is just fine; in two World Wars have Irishmen flown and died for the saxonach. Most notably Paddy Finucane (pro. FinOOcan), which see. But the emphasis in the last line should be on each word THIS. The poem means that the glory of flying like an eagle when other men crawl like worms is easily worth collaboration with the power across the Irish Sea, even if it ends in death. Flying is worth it; ask any aviator.

[cscian]

im doing this poem for the leaving cert and its definitely one of the better poems

[megaliprotopsalti]

I have changed my mind.

the one thing I dont like when he reads is that he accentuates the last word. why? by doing so you miss the point and the point is BALANCE not DEATH...this poem for some reason still touches a chord with me and gives me the goosebumps

[higgolini]

Being a pilot in WWI was almost certain death eventually. Better than dieing in a muddy trench though I suppose... Either way, God bless the souls of all those lost in the First World War. I don't think it was all for naught. They fought for what was right.

[AustraliaFare09]

Thank You JustAudio, It's so good to hear one of my favourite poems read in such a way and the fighter plane sounds in the background remind us of the truth behind the words and the great loss we all suffered wheather it was our war to fight or not!

[Worldspining]

ever had the pleasure to hear Yeats voice ?

no such accent., but truth even though he wrote this in anger. He wanted the pilot to die and he wrote it when he knew the pilot was dead.

That's what love will do to you.

He is a lesson. In many more then this one.