The Luck of the Irish

[StephenLawson]

'I know that I shall meet my fate
Somewhere among those clouds above;
Those that I fight I do not hate,
Those I guard I do not love;
My country is Kilitartan Cross
My countrymen are Kilitartan's poor,
No likely end could bring them loss
Or leave them happier than before.
Nor law, nor duty bade me fight,
Nor public men, 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 a waste of breath,
A waste of breath the years behind
In balance with this life, this death.

Author: William Butler Yeats 1865 - 1939.