AN IRISH AIRMAN FORSEES HIS DEATH, W.B. YEATS

AN IRISH AIRMAN FORSEES HIS DEATH BY WB YEATS narrated by Brendan Ross

AN IRISH AIRMAN FORESEES 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;
My county 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.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• irish
• performing
• arts
• language
• media
• visual
• WBYEATS
• POETRY
• BRENDANROSS
• GENIUS
• AIRMAN
• FORSEES
• HIS
• DEATH

[bluebreezebird]

@keefm2005

I disagree. I don't think he cares for Ireland at all. In specifying Kiltartan's Cross there doesn't seem to be such an attachment to Ireland. Even so, it is a 'lonely impulse of delight' which bades him to fight. His single motivation is flying. A very personal motivation.

[bluebreezebird]

This is a really interesting interpretation of the poem. Never have I heard such an angry version! Read with great passion, and I enjoy how different it is

[MusicMadSuperAwesome]

I love this poem, but I'm not sure I agree with the way the reader has interpreted it. He sounds angry as he reads it, and the tone of the poem as I understood it is far from angry. In fact, it seems to be one of indifference to everything except his "lonely impulse of delight" - the joy he finds in flying, even if it is the last thing he will ever do.

[flamingbartman]

the picture shown at 00:14-00:18 is the Vandeleur Eviction, which happened in my town during the 1880s, later the Vandeleur's house was burned down,

[keefm2005]

It is a very nationalistic poem. The airman resents fighting for Britain because he feels a nationalist impulse for his native Ireland.

[kittykatkel]

I don't think you've understood the poem sweetie! Read it carefully and you'll see it's most certainly not nationalistic! It is a commentary on the futility of war.

[FurnitureFan]

It's moving, but way too fast. What fire? Sounds like he's rushing for a tram, or under fire.

If too long a sacrifice makes a stone of the heart, his art is throwing it at a window. What he reads is fine. Blurting it out like this makes it sound invalid & guilty.

[Rattapax]

You read it too fast.

[samuelgodfreygeorge]

This is the fire of Brendan Ross.

[LeekClock]

Tumlit?