An Irish Airman Foresees His Death: Poem Analysis Quiz and Flashcards

Study Notes

Attitudes to War in Poetry

WB Yeats's poem "An Irish Airman Foresees his Death" is an anti-war poem that highlights the futility of war.
The poem is written in memory of Robert Gregory, an Irish Airman killed in an air battle.
The poem is a dramatic monologue, written in first person, conveying the airman's thoughts on war, life, and death.

The Airman's Reasons for Fighting

The airman's reason for fighting is "a lonely impulse of delight" - he loves the thrill and danger of air battles.
He doesn't fight for patriotic reasons, but for personal enjoyment.
The poem conveys the airman's acceptance and resignation to his fate, with the repetition of "I balance all... I balanced this life, this death".

Imagery and Language in Yeats's Poem

The poem uses simple language and images, downplaying the danger of WW1 air battles.
The metaphor "tumult in the skies" suggests chaos and pandemonium, but doesn't fully convey the danger of air battles.
The repetition of the word "death" in the title and at the end of the poem emphasizes the risk of death in battle.

Comparing Yeats and Hardy's Poems

Both poems use simple language and images to convey the futility of war.
Both poems are anti-war, presenting war as senseless and futile.
Both poems use unique literary devices, such as dashes in Hardy's poem, to convey the complexity of war.

Hardy's "The Man He Killed" Poem

The poem is also anti-war, highlighting the senselessness of war.
The poem uses dashes to compare the speaker's enemy to himself, emphasizing the lack of differences between them.
The poem's circular structure suggests that war is futile, and history will continue to repeat itself.

Description

Explore the presentation of attitudes towards war in WB Yeats' 'An Irish Airman Foresees his Death' and Thomas Hardy's 'The Man He Killed'. The former poem mourns the loss of an Irish Airman and criticizes the futility of war, while the latter reflects on the senselessness of killing a man who could have been a friend. Compare and contrast the themes of war and its consequences in these two poems.