This poem was written by William  Butler Yeaths( 1865-1939) in honor of Major Gregory ,who died while fighting in World War I against Germany. Mayor gregory's mother was an irish aristocrat who was a close friend of  Yeaths'. So this poem was particularly an expression of  Yeaths'  feelings upon the death  of Gregory as well as his experiences of war since he was a soldier there , too. Another important influence on  this  poem is Yeaths' political ideas since he  became involved with the Celtic Revival, a movement against the cultural influences of English rule in Ireland during the Victorian period, which looked to promote the spirit of Ireland's native heritage. The place Kiltartan referred in the poem is the region that Yeaths' mother lived.\par
    Yeaths  in this poem successfully conveys his feelings and ideas which are one must not hesitate to do an act that  would
feel him or her with elation no matter what it takes and one must not waste the precious life for his past  or  his future.
In spite of all this it is not  a quite complete philosophical thought to think that way since human beings live in societies. For the
goodness of the whole which in turn means the goodness of individuals, one is responsible for his or her acts against a society and so while ones does  an act that  would feel him or her with elation he must be prudent so as not to be detrimental to  the society.\par
     Yeaths writs the poem as though he is the aviator who shall meet his fate in his plane in the sky. The first two lines prepare the reader for what lies ahead. The pilot will die. Because of his political thoughts we may evaluate his words about poor Kiltartans and from his saying no likely end - end of the World War I - could bring them loss or leave them happier than before that he wants to emphasize the miserable condition of Irish people under the rule of Britain which  he mentions in the poem as those that I guard that I do not love.\par
    The pilot  chose to fly and fight in the war, not because he hated the Imperial Germans, nor because he loved British, Nor law, nor duty made him fight , nor public men, nor cheering crowds a lonely impulse of delight. This airman does not care how or where he flies, he simply wants to fly to make himself content.\par
With the line, "I balanced all, brought all to mind," Yeaths begins to tell us about life and death. In it, Yeaths is saying that Major Gregory saw his life pass before his eyes. He balanced all - life and death  -, brought all -his past and future - to mind. A waste of breath the years behind and the years to come. It is a waste of time and energy to live in the past, as well as to live always for what might be (the future). In reality, and especially at that moment  before death, all that matters is the present. Perhaps that moment before death is the only moment when one can truly realize and wholeheartedly believe that. For it is exceptionally difficult to look at  one's own life without hoping it will be better in the future or thinking about "how nice it was in the past.\par
    However, I do not agree with Yeaths in too points, first yes it is a war and you don't have a choice other than killing your opponents and Mayor Gregory does this while he does not hate Germans and moreover he enjoys flying, he is anyway responsible as everybody involved in that war for murdering of those soldiers, and the second point is that the pilot chooses to
die may be he suicide since he does not have a hope but suicide is not a reasonable solition.\par
    In conclusion, Yeaths successfully expressed his ideas and feelings in the poem "An Irish Airman Foresees His Death ".\par
    References
1. http://www.gci-net.com/~users/w/wolfsoul/poetry/yeats/yeats.html
2. http://www.thomson.com/gale/poetry/iairover.html
3.http://www.thomson.com/gale/poetry/iairexp.html#1

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\begin{document}
\author{Erdem \"{O}z \\Physics IV}
\date{21 June 1999}
\title{IMAGINATION}
\maketitle
\end{document}