An Irish Airman Forsees His Death

Question 1

I know that I

Answer 1

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

blunt, declarative opening - stoic, calm

Question 2

Those that I

Answer 2

Those that I fight I do not hate,
Those that I guard I do not love;

parallelism - subverts traditional war narratives
Repetition of I emphasises his individuality

Question 3

My country is

Answer 3

My country is Kiltartan’s cross,
My countrymen Kiltartan’s poor,

Allegiance is local, not political

Question 4

No likely end

Answer 4

No likely end could bring them loss
Or leave them happier than before.

war will neither help nor harm his people - pointless nature of war

Question 5

No law, nor

Answer 5

Nor law, nor duty bade me fight,
Nor public men, or cheering crowds,

repetition of nor and listing - dismissing usual motivations, emphasising individual motives

Question 6

A lonely impulse

Answer 6

A lonely impulse of delight
Led to this tumult in the clouds;

Lonely - decision made by himself
Impulse - spontaneous decision
Delight - sublime experience of flying

Question 7

I balanced all

Answer 7

I balanced all, brought all to mind,
The years to come seemed waste of breath

Anaphora with next line
No point in life - may as well die doing something he loves

Question 8

A waste of breath

Answer 8

A waste of breath the years behind
In balance with this life, this death.

Equilibrium in embracing death with the joy of flight. not resistant to death

Question 9

Precis

Answer 9

An Irish airman is written in very regular form, with Iambic tetrameter throughout, an ABAB rhyme scheme and a single 16 line stanza. The poem is a pilot giving a soliloquy on his imminent death, as he goes to fight in WWI, and his reasons for going to fight.