We found several building walls in Sligo with Yeats poems printed on them. Nancy told me that, by coincidence, the poem on Garrison Keiler's "The Writer's Almanac" Was Yeats' "An Airman Foresees His Death," a poem I used to use in my World War I unit when I was still teaching. Here it is:
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 country 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.
No comments:
Post a Comment