An Irish Airman Foresees His Death

Question 1

Quote 1

Answer 1

‘I know that I shall meet my fate
Somewhere among the clouds above;’

Question 2

Quote 1 Technique/s

‘I know that I shall meet my fate
Somewhere among the clouds above;’

Answer 2

• First speaker narration
• Euphemism

Question 3

Quote 1 Analysis

‘I know that I shall meet my fate
Somewhere among the clouds above;’

Answer 3

• ‘I’ –> Speaker elegises himself, which is a departure from traditional form
• ‘meet my fate’ –> hints at underlying anxiety in an otherwise literal poem

Question 4

Quote 2

Answer 4

‘Those that I fight I do not hate
Those that I guard I do not love;’

Question 5

Quote 2 Technique/s

‘Those that I fight I do not hate
Those that I guard I do not love;’

Answer 5

• Plosive Consonance
• Parallelism

Question 6

Quote 2 Analysis

‘Those that I fight I do not hate
Those that I guard I do not love;’

Answer 6

• The quote shows the speaker’s deep disillusionment. He fights, not for glory or country, but perhaps out of boredom or fate.
• Uses the airman to critique the idea of dying for abstract ideals, instead showing how many soldiers were caught in conflicts that had nothing to do with their true identity or community

Question 7

Quote 3

Answer 7

‘Nor law, nor duty bade me fight,
Nor public man, nor cheering crowds,’

Question 8

Quote 3 Technique/s

‘Nor law, nor duty bade me fight,
Nor public man, nor cheering crowds,’

Answer 8

• Anaphora
• Juxtaposition

Question 9

Quote 3 Analysis

‘Nor law, nor duty bade me fight,
Nor public man, nor cheering crowds,’

Answer 9

• ‘Nor’ –> Rejects conventional war narratives and motivations, highlights his alienation further
• ‘me’ contrasted with ‘man’ –> The speaker is not like other public men

Question 10

Quote 4

Answer 10

‘A lonely impulse of delight
Drove to this tumult in the clouds;’

Question 11

Quote 4 Technique/s

‘A lonely impulse of delight
Drove to this tumult in the clouds;’

Answer 11

• Personification
• Juxtaposition
• Romantic Imagery

Question 12

Quote 4 Analysis

‘A lonely impulse of delight
Drove to this tumult in the clouds;’

Answer 12

• ‘lonely’ –> Treats emotion as a force that drives action
• ‘delight’ and ‘tumult’ –> Establishes paradox of finding joy in something dangerous
• ‘in the clouds;’ –> Conveys speaker is not attached to the world; speaker is an outsider

Question 13

Modernist Tropes

Answer 13

• Disillusionment:
• Alienation
• Experimentation with meaning/structure: Poem’s content is introspective, anti heroic, and modern in its message.