Lyric Poem · War & Remembrance
An Irish Airman Foresees His Death
by W. B. Yeats · 1919
1I know that I shall meet my fate
2Somewhere among the clouds above;
3Those that I fight I do not hate
4Those that I guard I do not love;
5My country is Kiltartan Cross,
6My countrymen Kiltartan's poor,
7No likely end could bring them loss
8Or leave them happier than before.
9Nor law, nor duty bade me fight,
10Nor public man, nor cheering crowds,
11A lonely impulse of delight
12Drove to this tumult in the clouds;
13I balanced all, brought all to mind,
14The years to come seemed waste of breath,
15A waste of breath the years behind
16In balance with this life, this death.
Full-text availability follows the United States display decision recorded below; status can differ elsewhere.
“An Irish Airman Foresees His Death” by W. B. Yeats — quilloak.com/poems/an-irish-airman-foresees-his-death
Quick facts
- Poem
- An Irish Airman Foresees His Death
- Poet
- W. B. Yeats
- Published
- 1919
- Length
- 16 lines
- Form
- Lyric Poem
- Themes
- War & Remembrance, Death & Loss, Life
Craft notes
How this poem works
Measured from the text on this page, not copied from a summary. Counts are approximate: syllables and rhymes come from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary, which models General American English, so dialect, older pronunciation, and performance can all change what you hear.
- Shape
- 16 lines · one 16-line stanza
- Line length
- Mostly 8-syllable lines (tetrameter length).
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Text, source & rights
A traceable edition
Full-text display is based on the cited edition and a United States term-expiry review.
- Author record
- W. B. Yeats1865–1939
- Source record
- WikisourceAn Irish Airman Foresees His Death by william-butler-yeats, Wikisource transcription
- Display decision
- Full text · United States · reviewed 2026-07-18
- Publication record
- 1919
- Text fingerprint
- SHA-256 18db6d687a1dec2d…
- Editorial handling
- Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.