RYHME SCHEME (GRACE BIRK)

An Irish Airman Foresees His death

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.

Now 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.

THESIS

the speaker's feeling of paralysis throughout An Irish Airman Foresees His Death reveals how the speaker wants his life to change.

since he fights in war, the speaker has lived a very orderly and structured life. the rhyme scheme of ABAB relates to his life because it shows the order and paralysis within his life. The speaker feels stuck because he believes that everything, past and present, is a "waste of breath". which is why he wants to die. throughout the poem he is very indecisive, which which shows his inability to choose and results in his paralysis.