An Irish Airman Foresees his Death  by W B Yeats

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.

Nor law, nor duty bade me fight,  Nor public man, 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

(Major Robert Gregory came from Kiltartant Cross, Co Galway where his mother resided; Yeats was a neighbour and a fellow- co-operator in the Gaelic Revival.)

Tom Moran