Last Requests

From ZuluNotes - Free Leaving Cert Notes

Last Requests is an emotionally honest poem by Michael Longley. Death is a prominent feature in this poem, whether it be the untimely death of a soldier, or the father's slow demise. We also encounter Longley's feelings of inadequacy here. Waiting outside the tent, he feels he cannot grant his poor father's last request of a Woodbine. There is great irony in the poem in that his survival was motivated by the thought of a cigarette, only to die from their harmful effects in later life.