Agency
One prominent theme in "An Irish Airman Foresees His Death" is the concept of agency. The protagonist of the poem is an airman who contemplates his destiny in the face of death. Instead of fleeing, the airman chooses to fly and potentially die in battle. Still, he asserts that his decision is not one rooted in patriotism or hatred, as neither "Law, nor duty bade me fight," nor "public men, nor cheering crowds." His choice is fundamentally an existential one. In making the choice to fly into battle, the airman shows that his identity and his agency are separate from societal and external influences. Only he can make the decision that will control his fate; the airman's acceptance and anticipation of his death illustrates the idea that individual choice and personal freedom are integral to our existence as human beings, even amidst life's most challenging and grim circumstances.
The futility of war
One of the most important themes in the poem is the futility of war. The protagonist, an airman, is about to participate in a battle with the knowledge that he might not survive it. However, he expresses a profound disconnection from both sides of the conflict with the following lines: "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 nonchalant attitude suggests that the airman sees war as meaningless and futile. The airman's apathy towards the war reflects his hyper-critical attitude--and the attitude of many others--toward war. Yeats portrays the airman's impending sacrifice as tragic and pointless and not heroic and patriotic. The airman realizes that his life has been reduced to a mere statistic in the grander scheme of war, and his life has no value to the enemy or the person he fought for.
