Comparing Farewell For Peter Scher And An Irish Airman Foresees His Death

During World War I, many people from all over the world had lost their lives due to “imperial, territorial, and economic rivalries” between many countries (InfoPlease 2007). Many people felt that the war was very unnecessary and that there should be peace and happiness. At the time of the event, you can understand why Alfred Lichtenstein, a German poet who had written “Farewell for Peter Scher” in 1914. As well as William Butler Yeats, an Irish poet wrote “An Irish Airman Foresees His Death” in 1918. World War I had a strong influence on both these poets who express how war simply destroy the nation or a person completely. The theme for both poems are about losing your humanity during war. The poems both talk about men fighting during the

For the first part of the poem, there are five lines (cinquain). While in the second part, there are six lines. It is very unusual to see a poem set up with 5 lines with only the word “Me” (5) as the last line. However, this is significant because it a show the speaker who starts to talk to himself basically put his thoughts out loud to an end once you see the last word in the last line (5). It is clear that the poem does not have a rhyme scheme at all. This does show that the poem is a free verse. As for “ An Irish Airman Foresees His Death”, the lines are consistent in both the first stanza and the second stanza. Both stanzas have an octave in it. Unlike Lichtenstein’s poem, this poem does have a rhyme scheme. In the first stanza, the rhyme scheme is abab and cdcd. “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.” This quote display how well Yeats pair each end rhyme together and allow it to flow completely. By using the word “fate” and “hate” and “above” with “ love”. Yeats simply follow the rules of having the strict rhyme scheme in his

From line 9- 16, the length of each line tend to stretch out and then cut back short. The last words at the end of line 10, 12, and 14 show the how the speaker is at a point in his life where he is on a cliff. Words such as “crowds, clouds, and breath” express a feeling of being overwhelmed. As if the airman’s plane is unbalanced and he cannot control what is going to happen next. This is actually similar to Lichtenstein’s poem, the layout of the poem also same as it stretches out and then cut back again. The word that spoke out the most were “cement, iron, grave, and burning”; which is seen as the last line of 3, 6, 8, and 9. Again, it is another thing to keep in mind that these represent the state of being overwhelmed when the speaker had to go to war. Both poems show when read out loud have a similar image. Both Yeats and Lichtenstein mention the sky in their poem, although they talk about it in a different perspectives. “Farewell for Peter Scher” spoke about the sky as if he is on the ground looking up above. “The sun sinks to the horizon. Soon I shall be tossed into a gentle mass grave. In the sky the fine red of evening is burning” (8-10). This quote is important to pay close attention because of its double meaning. Line 8 has a deeper meaning than just the image of the sun. The meaning of the “sun” represent light, hope and humanity. As it