A Prayer of My Daughter by WB Yeats - an analysis by Claire Wong

This poem was written by William Butler Yeats for his infant daughter, Anne. He
worries about her. Maud Gonne was a radical, opinionated intelligent woman he had
loved, but who had rejected his proposals. In this poem he vents his thoughts on
her. Georgie Hyde Lees was his wife. ng, 4 Utarid

A Prayer for my Daughter by W.B. Yeats: An Analysis by Claire Wo

Stanza 1: The weather is a reflection of Yeats feelings. The post-war period was
dangerous. Annes vulnerability and innocence is symbolised by the cradle-hood
and coverlid.

And half hid shows that Anne is barely protected by the frail coverlid.

Anne is oblivious to the violent forces around her; she is ignorant (she sleeps on;
she is not awake to the violence around her), hence she is under this cradle-hood
which hides her and is unaffected. (The forces may be riots, violence, starvation,
or decay of moral values.) Under this cradlehood and coverlid/My child sleeps on.
Her ignorance protects her from the uneasy knowledge hence she sleeps on.

Robert Gregory died. His father could not protect him from death.

The roof-levelling wind is strong, representing frightening, turbulent forces.

Where by the haystack- and roof-levelling wind,/Bred on the Atlantic, can be
stayed. USA was more comfortable compared to Europe. Turbulent forces or
wind was less significant and more controlled in the USA. Hence it ca be stayed
or controlled.

Yeats prays because he is gloomy; great gloom . In my mind.

Tone: Frightening, precarious, gloomy.

Literary devices: personification the storm is howling represents threatening
external forces e.g. riots, evilness.

Roof-levelling wind represents turbulent forces.

Symbols - Storm represents outside forces which threaten Annes safety.

cradlehood represents Annes innocence and infancy.
coverlid represents innocence and ignorance, frail protection.
wind represents turbulent forces.
one bare hill may represent Roberts death. (Why is the hill bare? Replies are
appreciated.) The hill is empty, it may represent his death there is no one to
occupy it. Or it may be a hill where his tombstone lies. As I have said, I have no
idea.


Metonym - The author may be mistaken but Atlantic may be the United States of
America.

Rhyme scheme: aabbcddc


Stanza 2: Yeats is worried about Anne. Ihave walked and prayed for this young
child an hour. The weather reflects the threatening forces he fears.
Flooded stream represents intense forces caused by people as it has strong
forces. It is flooded because the troublemakers exist in large numbers or the
forces are strong. The weather or external forces caused by the war are stormy
and destructive. THe elms are tossed due to the destructive forces. People
(possibly represented by elms) are affected.

Tone : intense, anxious, frenetic, chaotic.

This is rather desperate and pessimistic but there is a shift of mood. Imagining
When Yeats starts to imagine, he helps his daughter; he decides how she should
turn out. This appeases his worries and gives him new ideas and food for thought..
He imagines how her future will be excitedly.

Imaginingthe future years had come/Dancing to a frenzied drum. Annes life will
pass in chaos. Dancing to a frenzied drum also indicates the passing years in
Annes life which are represented by drum-beats (which have rhythm and tempo)
which also symbolize violence and chaos. It is a violent and chaotic time. The drum
is frenzied because of the danger and chaos around Anne. Furthermore, Yeats is
excited (hence frenzied) for her to grow up.

Annes innocence is juxtaposed with the contrasting sea which is murderous.
The sea represents the world and the crowds around her, and as they are evil,
destructive and take advantage of her innocence, they are murderous. Moreover,
the sea or the world is termed as murderous innocence because as part of the
sea, Annes innocence is murderous to herself because it enables others to
manipulate her.

Tone: frenetic, maddening, excited.

Literary devices: symbols - sea wind , flooded stream turbulent forces

Personification - future years dancing - the passing years of life

Juxtaposition/oxymoron/paradox murderous innocence of the sea

Sibilance sea-wind scream
Assonance:sea-wind scream
Onomatopoeia scream

Stanza 3: Yeats hopes that Anne will be beautiful but not excessively. May she be
granted beauty and yet not/Beauty to make a strangers eye distraught. Beauty is
distracting and destructive, because it causes an admirer to be distraught and
unhappy as a result of this unfulfilled desire to possess this beauty. Besides, he
may desire her negatively and steal her innocence. It inspires passion which may be
hopeless. She should not be vain and conceited of her beauty. Or hers before a
looking-glass.) Yeats fears that beauty will make her think that it is sufficient, for
beauty would help her. Beautiful people being more attractive can benefit more,
and with this attribute, Anne may think that she needs not perform acts of
goodness, for her beauty is sufficient to place her in a position of security and
acceptance. This causes her to lose natural kindness. She does not see or
appreciate the values of kindness and virtue. She would think herself superior and
strive less without helping others. They do not have to be kind and despise the
physically undesirable. Furthermore, their beauty allows them to be fastidious in
their choice of partners, having many admirers. Hence, they do not choose the
right person as they have no heart or soul. Lose the heart-revealing intimacy/
That chooses right. They cannot love truly and care for veneer and shallow
qualities, for they cannot truly feel or know who the one is. They are sought for.
The right person would in the end be more drawn to a good woman as shown in
stanza 5. Hearts are not had as a gift but hearts are earned.

Beauty obstructs friendship as being as being beautiful causes one to be
condescending, malicious and take things for granted. It causes the loss of human
touch for the beautiful may tend to boast and despise their inferiors. They are not
true friends. In another perspective, they do not form true friendships because
others befriend them for the benefits derived from their appearance and even
take advantage of them. The beautiful do not pay attention to those who make true
friends as they believe themselves superior in beauty, fashion, etc. etc.
Furthermore, excessive beauty results in jealousy and broken friendships. Another
point to make is that beauty that over-entices may decrease Annes virtue and
increase her vulnerability as others wish to use her. This is crucial as in this poem,
Yeats emphasizes the need for feminine innocence.

In contrast, a plainer person being on a lower hierarchy will appreciate the
importance of kindness. In this context, beauty is equated with societys
shallowness.

Tone: imploring, beseeching, prayer-like, reflective.

Literary devices: personification - strangers eye distraught - attracts and
saddens one who is attracted

Symbol - the stranger is an unhappy admirer.
Alliteration - strangers eye distraught.

Stanza 4 : Yeats speaks of Greek mythology. Helen of Troy, being the most
beautiful woman in the world, married Paris, a stupid man. Quote: Helen being
chosen found life flat and dull / And later had much trouble from a fool. As she
was greatly admired and revered for her beauty, life was boring with little strife.

While that great queen, that rose out of the spray, being fatherless could have
her wasy/ Yet chose a bandy-legged smith for man. Venus or Aphrodite, being
fatherless, could marry as she pleased with no parental authority. Yet with all her
power and advantages chose a bandy-legged smith for man (Hephaestus)
someone inferior to her. She had no father to guide her. Yeats intends to guide his
daughter in the choice of a suitable spouse. Yeats is scornful: cultured women make
mad choices in spouses. Fine women eat/ A crazy salad with their meat. Meat is
substantial; salad is not. Meat represents
a fine lady who can be said to be substantial, having numerous qualities; the
crazy salad is their dreadful mate, who is devoid of many qualities. They can have
more, but choose worse.

The Horn of Plenty was a horn given by Zeus to his caretaker. The possessor of
this Horn would be granted his wishes.
Whereby the Horn of Plenty is undone. This is because Maud Gonne squandered
her gifts of intellect, grace and beauty and the benefits she could command by
marrying John McBride. She could obtain what she desired with these gifts
similar to the Horn of Plenty and wasted the aforementioned gifts on McBride.
As the Horn of Plenty could bring victuals, John McBride is symbolized as an
unsubstantial salad. Maud Gonne wasted her supposed power; she could have done
better for herself, instead she made the wrong choice or desire.

Tone: cynical, sad, troubled, scornful.
Literary devices: symbol - Helen, Queen a beautiful cultured woman or Maud
Gonne
Horn of plenty - gifts, advantages.
Metaphor - crazy salad an inferior spouse.

Stanza 5: Yeats wants Anne to be courteous. Love does not come freely and
unconditionally. Hearts are not had as a gift but hearts are earned. Love is not
inspired by mere physical beauty; it is earned by good efforts by those who are
not entirely beautiful who are kind and helpful. Those who have in stupidity made a
fool of themselves by hopelessly loving beautiful women and thought it was
reciprocated. Yet many, tat have played the fool/ For beautys very self. One may
not be loved by a beautiful woman.

Charm from a good woman has charmed a man eventually. has charm made wise.
He becomes wise by realizing the goodness of loveing a good woman.

Unsuccessful men have loved and are loved by kind women who make them happy,
yet are not beautiful. Loved and thought himself beloved/ From a glad kindness
cannot take his eyes. She cannot take his eyes or maptivate him by sight
because she is not physically beautiful. But her kindness makes him glad. This could
be a reference to Yeats wife,, Georgie Hyde Lees who was not beautiful, but they
had a happy marriage. Georgie loved him and let him take the credit for her work.
The persona praises good unbeautiful women like Georgie who re more loved by
men compared to harsh beautiful ones Maud Gonne.

Tome: reflective, advisory, grateful, enlightened.

Literary devices: personification - glad kindness cannot take his eys
charm made wise.

Symbol - hearts love.
A Prayer for my Daughter
by W. B. Yeats
A word about Yeats and this poem A Prayer for my daughter .
William Butler Yeats (1865-1939) was an illustrious Irish poet, writer and playwright. He
was a staunch Irish nationalist who continued to espouse this cause all his life. At the
prime of his youth, at the age of 24, he met the woman Maud Gonne. She too was an
ardent votary of the Irish cause. Yeats was enamored of her for her dedication, energy,
and of course, her beauty. Yeatss mind was swept with love for Maud Gonne. But, she
remained aloof. Yeasts proposed to her as many as four times, but she declined to
reciprocate. She chose to marry Major John MacBride. It left Yeats distraught and
dejected. Later, Yeats married Georgie Hyde-Lees. She bore him two children, Anne and
Michael.
The memory of Maud Gonne remained etched in Yeatss mind, making her the muse for
many of his great literary works later.
This poem was written by Yeats when Anne was a tender infant. It expresses his love and
concern for Anne. The First World War had just drawn to a close leaving a trail of death
and destruction on Europe. Inside Ireland there was a surge of Irish nationalism and
Catholicism. Life was hard in Ireland then. Want, unrest, upheaval and discontent made
life hard for the ordinary citizens. There was frustration, angst and fear. Yeats did not
escape this air of despondency. In this backdrop, he penned this poem for the little baby
whom he loved so much.
.
The poem
Stanza 1 ..
Once more the storm is howling, and half hid
Under this cradle-hood and coverlid
My child sleeps on. There is no obstacle
But Gregorys wood and one bare hill
Whereby the haystack- and roof-levelling wind,
Bred on the Atlantic, can be stayed;
And for an hour I have walked and prayed
Because of the great gloom that is in my mind.

Explanation of stanza 1
The innocent little infant Anne is fast asleep in her cradle. The hood of the cradle half-
covers the cradle. A furious storm coming from the Atlantic ocean batters everything
outside the house. The bare hill and the woods bear the brunt of the storm. The hay stack
and the roof can barely stand the thrust of the raging winds. Anne, oblivious of the fury
of nature outside, sleeps, but her father is filled with angst about her safety, and rearing
in the hard times that lie ahead.
In reality, Yeats was strolling when these disturbing thoughts grip his mind. He imagines
the storm as a symbol of the difficult times ahead. He is worried about the upbringing of
Anne. The cradle and its hood that partly covers it are the symbols of the limited security
Yeats, as a father, can provide to Anne.
No reader of this poem will fail to notice the liberal use of metonyms, metaphors and
other types of figures of speech in this poem.
.
Stanza 2
I have walked and prayed for this young child an hour
And heard the sea-wind scream upon the tower,
And under the arches of the bridge, and scream
In the elms above the flooded stream;
Imagining in excited reverie
That the future years had come,
Dancing to a frenzied drum,
Out of the murderous innocence of the sea.

Explanation of Stanza 2
The poets sense of gloom deepens as he continues his walk for almost an hour. The
weather, as conjured by his nervous mind, is violent and destructive. The nature appears
to wreck its vengeance on man. A confluence of devastating forces is imagined as the
Flooded stream that is going to wash away everything on its way. Even the strong elms
trees are tossed around by the torment unleashed by the winds. The future, in its most
hideous form confronts the author.
A little later, the poet sees some light, some respite from the traumatic hallucinations.
He thinks of the days to come when Anne would grow up to a world of hope and
possibilities. By saying, That the future years had come, Dancing to a frenzied drum,
the author invokes optimism and a permanent respite doom the doom and gloom of
today.

Stanza 3 ..
May she be granted beauty and yet not
Beauty to make a strangers eye distraught,
Or hers before a looking-glass, for such,
Being made beautiful overmuch,
Consider beauty a sufficient end,
Lose natural kindness and maybe
The heart-revealing intimacy
That chooses right, and never find a friend.

Explanation of stanza 3
Yeats hopes that Anne would grow up to a beautiful damsel. But he does not like her to
be a paragon of beauty. In Yeatss view, extreme beauty can be detrimental and ruinous
for a woman. It might invite zealously, and sarcasm from others. It might make those
people distraught, who aspire for hands but, cant get it. Besides this, the spurned lover
may become vengeful towards her. Beauty that inspires wild passion in others is fraught.
Beauty often misleads the beholder by giving a false sense that she is a complete person
who is in no need of any other desirable qualities. Such vainglorious feeling is unhelpful
to a woman. She may lose her natural urge for kindness.
Stanza 4 ..
Helen being chosen found life flat and dull
And later had much trouble from a fool,
While that great Queen, that rose out of the spray,
Being fatherless could have her way
Yet chose a bandy-leggd smith for man.
Its certain that fine women eat
A crazy salad with their meat
Whereby the Horn of Plenty is undone.
.
Explanation of Stanza 4 In this stanza, Yeats recounts the miserable fate that befell the
Helen of Troy and Venus. Both were paragons of beauty, but carried huge load of curse
and suffering having to marry a fool (26) and a bandy-leggd smith (29).
.-
Stanza 5 .
In courtesy Id have her chiefly learned;
Hearts are not had as a gift but hearts are earned
By those that are not entirely beautiful;
Yet many, that have played the fool
For beautys very self, has charm made wise,
And many a poor man that has roved,
Loved and thought himself beloved,
From a glad kindness cannot take his eyes.
-.
Explanation of stanza 5 .. The next stanza deals with what Yeats determines are very
important womanly qualities such as courtesy, or kindness and civility. He asserts that
men adore women who exude charm, kindness and gentle manners. Being exquisitely
beautiful is not necessarily a very lovely womans prerequisite. In courtesy Id have her
chiefly learned;/Hearts are not had as a gift but hearts are earned/By those that are not
entirely beautiful (33-35).
.-
Stanza 6.
May she become a flourishing hidden tree
That all her thoughts may like the linnet be,
And have no business but dispensing round
Their magnanimities of sound,
Nor but in merriment begin a chase,
Nor but in merriment a quarrel.
O may she live like some green laurel
Rooted in one dear perpetual place.
.-
Explanation of Stanza 6 .. Yeats hopes that his daughter grows up to embody wisdom,
joy and reticence. Yeats wants her to live in a protected place, away from gloom, danger
and destruction. He certainly does not want her t confront the turmoil and frenzy he had
conjured up at the beginning of the poem. He uses the idea and image of a deep-rooted
and stable sprawling tree to express the safety and security needed for his daughter.
Yeats writes, O may she live like some green laurel/Rooted in one dear perpetual place
(47-48).
.-
Stanza 7.
My mind, because the minds that I have loved,
The sort of beauty that I have approved,
Prosper but little, has dried up of late,
Yet knows that to be choked with hate
May well be of all evil chances chief.
If theres no hatred in a mind
Assault and battery of the wind
Can never tear the linnet from the leaf.
-.
Explanation of Stanza 7 In the next stanza Yeats introspects, and wryly concludes that
his mind is dried up of late (51), which is weathering away. However, quite steadfastly,
he keeps the temptation of hate away. He knows that a mind afflicted by hate is
doomed, because the smouldering cinders of hatred consumes the noble creativity of
mind. In the line to be choked with hate/May well be of all evil chances chief (52-53),
he asserts this with conviction.

Stanza 8
An intellectual hatred is the worst,
So let her think opinions are accursed.
Have I not seen the loveliest woman born
Out of the mouth of Plentys horn,
Because of her opinionated mind
Barter that horn and every good
By quiet natures understood
For an old bellows full of angry wind?
.
Explanation of Stanza 8 In this stanza, Yeats unravels his feelings relating to the woman
who spurned his love four times Maud Gonne. The wound and the rancor Maud inflicted
on the mind of becomes apparent in this stanza. Maud, a very ravishing woman as per
Yeats, not only rejected his courtship, but went on to marry MacBride. Yeats could not
reconcile to this all his life.
Maud, according to Yeats was a highly gifted woman, who was showered with gifts from
Plentys horn (60). Sadly, her opinionated mind made her to squander all those
precious things on Major MacBride. Mauds fiercely-held convictions and strong
convictions made her too opinionated. This imparted a negative aura to her personality.
Hence, Yeats felt his daughter must not be opinionated.
-.
Stanza 9
Considering that, all hatred driven hence,
The soul recovers radical innocence
And learns at last that it is self-delighting,
Self-appeasing, self-affrighting,
And that its own sweet will is Heavens will;
She can, though every face should scowl
And every windy quarter howl
Or every bellows burst, be happy still.
.
Explanation to stanza 9 .Yeats then fondly hopes that his daughter becomes as beautiful
as Maud, but does not get her haughtiness and arrogance. He wants his daughter to
submit to Heavens will with a smiling face. Her soul must imbibe radical innocence
(66) or be rooted innocence (akin to that of a tree). Such values would bring abundant
happiness for her and all those who eschew hatred.
.
Stanza 10 (Last stanza)
And may her bridegroom bring her to a house
Where alls accustomed, ceremonious;
For arrogance and hatred are the wares
Peddled in the thoroughfares.
How but in custom and in ceremony
Are innocence and beauty born?
Ceremonys a name for the rich horn,
And custom for the spreading laurel tree.
.-
Explanation to stanza 10 . The poem ends with an imaginary climax. Yeats, as the loving
father, conjures the marriage of his daughter. She goes to live in her husbands home as
per the set norms of custom and ceremony (77). She enjoys the safety and security
of her cozy home in sharp contrast to the decrepit crumbling house described at the
outset of the poem. She does not have to face the violent storm. He closes his prayer by
returning to the image of the horn and the tree, as sources of custom, optimism that
might bring deliverance to the world.
Poetic devices used in the poem.
a. Onomatopoeia (the use of words that sound like the thing that they are describing)
howling, scream, spray, choke, scowl, howl
b. Repetition (saying the same thing many times) in the ninth stanza: self-appeasing,
self-delighting, and self-affrighting
c. Alliteration (the use of several words together that begin with the same sound or letter
in order to make a special effect) howling, and half hid, cradle-hood and coverlid, great
gloom,sea-wind scream, being made beautiful, like the linnet, live like, linnet from the
leaf, hatred driven hence, recovers radical, bellows burst, bridegroom bring, find a friend
d. Assonance (similarity in the vowel sounds of words that are close together in a poem)-
walked and prayed, young-hour, such-overmuch, trouble- fool, with-meat, yet-that-
played, beauty-very, poor-roved, loved-thought-beloved, hidden-tree, dried-late, linnet-
leaf, should-scowl, quarter-bowl, hatred-wares, spreading laurel tree.
Figures of speech used in the poem .
a. Metaphor- Ceremony is used for the Plentys horn, custom is used for the spreading
laurel tree, linnet is used for good faith, and laurel is used for having a victorious life
b. Personification- Sea-wind scream-human being, yearsdancing-human being, frenzied
drum, human being, angry wind- human being,
c. Simile- all her thoughts may like the linnet be, may she live like some green laurel
d. Juxtaposition- murderous innocence
e. Imagery- The storm is representing the dangerous outside forces, may be the future
that she will encounter with soon. The cradle is representing his daughters babyhood.
The sea is the source of the wind and logically is the source of future years as well. The
murderous innocence is attributed to the sea and represents poets daughter and the
outside world which waits for her. He uses the imagery dried for his mind to explain
how the bad ideas are rooted in his mind. And also he uses the horn as ceremony and
the tree as custom.