A critical comparison between "An Irish Airman Predicts His Death" and "Vergissmeinnicht". WB Yeats's "An Irish Airman Foresees His Death" and Keith Douglas's "Vergissmeinnicht" are poems deeply concerned with the theme of mortality in combat. The images and language of war and death permeate the verses; however, both poems are not exclusively fixated on the blood of war. Rather, both thought-provoking poems reveal the inner monologue and, therefore, the inner life of soldiers who would otherwise be nameless in the eyes of the general public. Therefore, the emotional language and thoughtful tone with which the speakers express death sensitizes us (the listeners) to the reality that these soldiers are merely human. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Both poets take different approaches in their depiction of death. Berryman postulates that "poetry is composed of real human beings and traits of it concern themselves very closely." Both poems certainly contain confessional elements of the poet's life evoked through the use of emotional language. The title of Yeats's poem immediately sets a dark tone as it potentially "foresees" a tragic plot. However, Yeats upends our expectations, as the aviator does not portray the truly painful nature of war deaths. The reference to the battle as a "turmoil" (l.12) downplays its violence. The aviator's euphoric "impulse" (l.11) to die "in the clouds above" (l.2) is probably romantic; suggests his desire to escape the limitations of human physicality. Likewise, the “clouds [above]” provide a paradoxically sublime war setting. Yeats's poem is an elegy to his friend, Major Robert Gregory, who fought and died in the First World War. It is therefore no wonder that the poet projects his hopes for a peaceful, if unrealistic, death onto the person in the poem. In stark contrast, Douglas experienced the anguish of World War II firsthand, so it is not surprising that he portrays death more realistically. The opening scene reflects a less pleasant image of the war's casualties: "Three weeks gone and the fighters gone" (l.1). The explosive repetition of “gone” exaggerates the unpleasant image of loss of life. It also onomatopoeically imitates the sound of a gun firing, allowing the listener to visualize the violence. Furthermore, Douglas uses vivid imagery to allude to death: "the soldier lying in the sun" (l.4). The hissing exaggerates the sinister theme as the speaker also downplays the severity of the soldier's death by suggesting that he is merely "lying down", lying down pleasantly. This blissful image juxtaposes the graphic image of the soldier's "decomposed" (l.16) body, covered in "dark flies" and "his burst stomach", hollow and dark, "like a cave" (ll.18-20 ). The discrepancy between the soldier's description and reality highlights the desensitizing nature of war; soldiers perceive frightening images of death as normal. Indeed, "the sun" literally and metaphorically sheds light on the terrible consequences of war: a grotesque image of a "[rotting]" body covered in black flies on the "nightmarish ground" (l.2). Thus, the experiences of both poets influence the difference between the idyllic sense of death, conveyed by Yeats's poetry, and its grotesque representation in Douglas's poetry. Furthermore, both soldiers express different attitudes towards the importance of mortality. Probably, the aviator's ability to "predict" his own death allows him to accept it in a calm and edible way.