Comparison between Easter 1916 and An Irish Airman Forsees His Death

An Irish Airman Foresees His Death/ Easter 1916

These poems, whilst being written only 3 years apart, both focus on similar themes from
two separate events. Yeats title’s the poem Easter 1916 to represent the Easter uprising of
Ireland in 1916, an event in which many lost their lives rebelling against England to gain
independence. Characters in the poem represent real patriots who played their part in this
revolution such as “That woman” and “This man” who are Countess Constance Markievicz, a
leader of the uprising of Ireland, much to Yeats distaste; and Padraic Pearse who was a poet
as well as a leader of the uprising (respectively). The second poem: An Irish Airman Foresees
His Death, is Yeats’ elegy for close friend, Robert Gregory, who was shot down accidently by
the Italians, whilst serving for Ireland in WW1. The poem shows Gregory’s possible views on
war and his position in life.

The first similarity between the two poems is their rhyme scheme. This rhyme scheme is
ABAB; this is however only a similarity due to Easter 1916 breaking the structure from time
to time and may follow an ABACA… scheme or words such as “enough” and “love”. This may
be due to Yeats confusion over whether he actually agreed the uprising or not, therefore
the rhyme may represent the certainty of agreement and doubt may be the reason for lack
of rhyme. The rhyme scheme in An Irish Airman Foresees His Death is likely due to the shock
of his close friend’s death, so that he chooses simplicity and rigidness to reflect upon his
feelings; simply sadness and inability to stray away from it.

A difference between the two poems is the language used in them. For An Irish Airman
Foresees His Death, the language used is colloquial, and is likely used by Yeats to show that
Gregory was just a normal man, and in this way Yeats is paying homage to Gregory’s life, not
as a hero but simply one man of many wanting to help his country. The lack of imagery
resonates this message of normality towards his dear friend. In Easter 1916, the language
used is, for the most part, formal and rich with imagery, which makes it hard for people with
little information on the Easter uprising of 1916 to understand the poem. I believe that
Yeats is not being pretentious but rather is expressing his patriotism as only an Irish person
who had experienced the event would understand the poem, and we know that he did not
personally take part in the uprising, so this could be his piece of opposition towards
England’s control.

Another similarity of both poems is that they both display patriotism, as well as a doubt of
their actions towards changes. Yeats uses anaphora in the line: “Those that I fight I do not
hate/Those that I guard I do not love” to emphasise that Gregory is willing to die for his
country, but does not necessarily “love” it; this emotion lies with the people of Kiltartan
only. Yeats may writes this as the confusion that many Irish people may have had at the
time, using Gregory’s war to also show his thoughts on the war against England, two wars
that are worth dying for, yet were also pointless. For Yeats the English could easily dominate
the Irish; and for Gregory, the inferior force of Ireland against the axis made little difference
in advancing the war. In Easter 1916, Yeats supports many of those involved in the uprising;
even the man once married to his love Maud Gonne, called Major John MacBride, under the
description of “A drunken, vainglorious lout”. He tells the reader that “I number him in this
song” showing that he respects him for his opposition of English rule and sacrifice for
Ireland. However Yeats shows doubt with the lines, “Was it needless death after all? / For
England may keep faith” questioning what the bloodshed of the uprising did, and then in the
next line, reasoning that England may have still kept their promise of releasing Ireland after
WW1.

These poems both display Yeats patriotic feelings and doubts towards the effect on both the
Irish people and the country. Yeats does this through two very different poems in terms of
language in order to show his nationalist beliefs through any event; one shaping Ireland’s
independence and one so close to his heart that the style of writing is affected by the shock
and grief of it. Both poems celebrate the lives of those who died helping his country and
carries their names in legend as he dedicates these poems to them.