W.B. Yeats (1865–1939) Irish poet and playwright
An Irish Airman Forsees His Death http://poetry.poetryx.com/poems/1441/ <br class="br">The Wild Swans at Coole (1919) <br class="br">Context: I know that I shall meet my fate<br>Somewhere among the clouds above;<br>Those that I fight I do not hate,<br>Those that I guard I do not love;<br>My county is Kiltartan Cross,<br>My countrymen Kiltartan’s poor,<br>No likely end could bring them loss<br>Or leave them happier than before.<br>Nor law, nor duty bade me fight,<br>Nor public men, nor cheering crowds,<br>A lonely impulse of delight<br>Drove to this tumult in the clouds;<br>I balanced all, brought all to mind,<br>The years to come seemed waste of breath,<br>A waste of breath the years behind<br>In balance with this life, this death.