The following version of this poem was used to create this guide: Yeats, William Butler. "An Irish Airman Foresees his Death". Poetry Foundation, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/57311/an-irish-airman-foresees-his-death.

Note that all parenthetical citations within the guide refer to the lines of the poem from which the quotations are taken.

"An Irish Airman Foresees his Death" is a 16-line elegy by Irish poet William Butler Yeats, written in memory of the pilot Major Robert Gregory. Gregory was the son of Yeats’ close friend Lady Gregory, who was a folklorist, dramaturge, and lifelong supporter of Yeats’ work. The poem is written from the pilot’s point of view as he considers his foray into the sky and the fate that ultimately awaits him. It explores themes of identity and the Irish attitude towards the war.