The speaker in the poem is Robert Gregory. Yeats addresses the subject matter with a reverential and confessional tone. The language is simple and direct, with a basic rhythmic pattern. The poem opens in a direct manor; through the opening line Yeats’ provides a concise presentation of the stoical, brave acceptance with which Gregory tackles his fate:
“I know that I shall meet my fate”
This simple and direct approach immediately sets the conversational tone. Yeats’ is eager to emphasis that it is this courageous acceptance of the inevitability of death that is an admirable facet of this heroic figure’s persona.
Yeats presents the good nature of this heroic figure and is eager to express that although Gregory died at war, he was not a violent or adversarial man by nature, his motives for going to war were noble. Through the voice of Robert Gregory Yeats establishes this man’s belief that war is often futile and that his was not driven by hate or love:
“Those that I fight I do not hate;
Those that I guard I do not love”
Yeats’ use of antithesis emphasises Gregory’s ambivalence with regard to the cause for which he fights. The undertone of the futility of war is more profound. Yeats wants to state that Gregory was driven to war out of a different force that did not involve passionate patriotism, but a deeper impulse.
The poem expresses a level of Protestant patriotism which Yeats’ finds admirable in his personal hero and Yeats establishes that Major Gregory was a man, proud of his identity. Gregory identifies him self as Irish:
“My country is Kitltartan Cross,
My countrymen Kiltartan’s poor”
The heavy use of repetition here emphasises Yeats’ desire to express Gregory’s noble qualities, as a man who values both his country and his countrymen.
Yeats presents Robert Gregory as a clear sighted figure. Through Gregory’s voice Yeats highlights that Gregory is very aware of the fact that his death in action would not really affect his country and those who share his nationality but do not know him personally, neither would it have an impact on his opposition:
”No likely end could bring them loss
Or leave them happier than before.”
Through the tone of these lines Yeats expresses Gregory’s courageous nature, a man who is not intimidated by the proposition of a non-response to his death. Yeats presents Gregory as a stoic, almost selfless character, who although naturally heroic, does not seek the acclaim that often accompanies acts of heroism.
Yeats again addresses Gregory’s ambivalence with regard to the cause for which he fights. Yeats is eager to communicate that Gregory was compelled to war out of an alternative force that did not involve passionate patriotism or a desire for acclaim. Yeats reveals Robert Gregory’s non motives:
“Nor law, nor duty bade me fight,
Nor public men, nor cheering crowds”
The repetition and cumulative effect of these lines emphasises Yeats desire to portray the involvement of choice. Gregory did not seek what normal men did in war. Yeats’ expresses this point with the aim of highlighting Gregory’s extraordinary status amongst men. Yeats viewed his hero as a morally superior figure, not intrigued by plebeian attractions, but inspired by an alternative force.
Yeats is eager to present Gregory’s rejection of ordinary motives and instead his impulsive nature. As an artist Yeats would have embraced this quality of spontaneity. Yeats would have admired the fact that for Gregory “a lonely impulse of delight” and not a patriotic obligation or lust for acclaim would be the deciding factor in this important choice. It is this freedom that Robert Gregory possessed which Yeats find so commendable.
Yeats wants to communicate the importance of Gregory’s heroic impulse, but also that he possessed a rationale that allowed him to deliberate effectively over his decision:
“I balanced all, brought all to mind”
The patterning of this section of the poem reflects the certainty of Gregory’s judgements, his even handed approach to decisions making. Yeats’ use of steady rhythm and caesura effectively communicate Gregory’s deliberate and rational mode of thinking.
It is the final section of this poem which seems to capture the sensibilities in Robert Gregory’s persona that Yeats’ believes the epitome of heroism. As an artist Yeats embraced all that was spiritual, sensual and unrestricted. Gregory has an overwhelming desire to encounter the heightened emotion that the experience of war would bring, it is this aspirational quality that intrigues Yeats most of all, and affirms his view of Gregory as the ultimate hero. Yeats expresses Robert Gregory’s belief that nothing that would follow this experience of war would be so heightened, and so it would be worth losing his life to live this moment of sensual glory:
“The years to come seemed waste of breath,
A waste of breath the years behind
In balance with this life, this death.”
In the final line of the poem Yeats affirms Gregory’s heroic qualities and also expresses a paradoxical and typically artistic contention. Although this experience would result in the end of Gregory’s life, the moment preceding his death would be the epitome of all moments.
