"A Prayer for My Daughter" is a poem written by W.B. Yeats in 1919, as a plea for peace and calm in a world that was being torn apart by the violence of World War I and the Irish War of Independence. It is a beautiful and moving tribute to the love of a father for his daughter, and it speaks to the universal hope that all parents have for their children - that they will grow up to be strong, wise, and happy.
In the poem, Yeats reflects on the turbulent world in which his daughter is growing up, and he expresses a deep yearning for peace and stability. He asks for the "dew of the morning" to fall gently upon her, and for the "kiss of the sun" to bring her joy and delight. He also prays that she will be protected from the "rough beast" of war and violence, and that she will be able to find the "secrets" of the world and "unlock" them with her "bold" and "gentle" spirit.
Yeats' love for his daughter is palpable in every line of the poem, and it is clear that he wants nothing more than for her to be able to live a happy and fulfilling life. He asks for the "kindly" stars to shine down upon her, and for the "sacred" moon to guide her through the darkness. He also prays that she will be blessed with the "cool" wisdom of the "wise" and the "cool" courage of the "brave."
As a parent myself, I can relate to the deep love and concern that Yeats feels for his daughter in this poem. It is a reminder of the incredible responsibility that we have as parents to nurture and protect our children, and to do everything in our power to help them grow into the best versions of themselves. Yeats' "A Prayer for My Daughter" is a timeless and moving tribute to this universal truth, and it is a must-read for any parent who wants to raise their children to be strong, wise, and happy.
A Prayer for My Daughter
Like a linnet, he wants her to be satisfied with herself, and infect others with her happiness. Yeats Context: Yeats continues to talk about his hopes and expectations for his daughter. Further, he believes that a soul free from hatred will preserve its innocence and hatred. He doesn't need his girl to transform into a model of magnificence. Therefore I resolved to put my hunk of bread-and-butter down the leg of my trousers.
A Prayer for my Daughter by W.B. Yeats
I do, however, concur with Joyce Carol Oates in one point: the emotional stance that transpires from underneath the intellectual position of the poem is somewhat alienating: something in it dampens the sympathy evoked by an elderly father's anxiety for his infant. Hatred removes the blamelessness, so its nonattendance will make the individual lively and honest. Yeats William Butler Yeats was born as the eldest son of John Butler Yeats on June 13, 1865. He is worried about the safety of his new born daughter and solicits for her a life of beauty, accompanied by natural kindness and heart-winning courtesy. Or how comes it that my exceeding heat Is not allayed by her heart-frozen cold, But that I burn much more in boiling sweat, And feel my flames augmented manifold? If they cannot claim it, if it is not there, if their empty fingers beat the empty air and the giver goes down on his knees in prayer knows that all of his giving has been for naught and that nothing was ever what he thought and turns in his guilty bed to stare at the starving multitudes standing there and rises from bed to curse at heaven, he must yet understand that to whom much is given much will be taken, and justly so: I cannot tell how much I owe. Here, Yeats is thinking with great reverie or anxiety that that the turbulent weather of war has already visited the world that was supposed to happen later in future he doubted.
A Prayer For My Daughter by W.B Yeats
He feels a kind of gloom and worry about the future of his daughter. It's certain that fine women eat A crazy salad with their meat Whereby the Horn of Plenty is undone. That is why he seeks to protect his daughter from the democratization of society and its values by ensuring that she will behave herself in a manner appropriate of a lady of her class. 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. The poem appeared for the first time in his poetry collection, Michael Robartes and the Dancer in 1921.
A Prayer for My Daughter Themes
Such ladies fail to remember their usual gentleness and reject earnest darlings. Have I not seen the loveliest woman born Out of the mouth of Plenty's horn, Because of her opinionated mind Barter that horn and every good By quiet natures understood For an old bellows full of angry wind? Now, however, the poet expresses a certain ambivalence toward those heroes. Listen, they put down their equipment. That the future years had come, Dancing to a frenzied drum. I felt that I must have something in reserve for my dreadful acquaintance, and his ally the still more dreadful young man.
William Butler Yeats
His ironies of life come through the rejection and paternal stance come by his experience of love. He wants his daughter to avoid hatred. From 1900, Yeats' poetry grew more physical and realistic. He was a driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival, and along with Lady Gregory and Edward Martyn founded the Abbey Theatre, serving as its chief during its early years. With gentill hors quhen I wald knyp, Thane is thair laid on me ane quhip.
A Prayer for my Daughter Poem Summary and Analysis
We know that his constant effort to win her heart went in vain. Methinks, its motion in this hush of nature Gives it dim sympathies with me who live, Making it a companionable form, Whose puny flaps and freaks the idling Spirit By its own moods interprets, every where Echo or mirror seeking of itself, And makes a toy of Thought. When other horses had bran to eat, I got just grass, gripe as I might. Did you go in for bonfires when you were a kid? For noting this contrast I am indebted to a lecture by Shimon Sandbank at the Faculty celebration of his winning the Israel Prize for translation. To colleveris than man I skip, That scabbit ar, hes cruik and cald.
A Prayer for My Daughter by William Butler Yeats
The poet wishes for a happy married life for his daughter. The poet has communicated his confidence in custom and function however in a universe of evolving values; it could be exceptionally hard to save them under the flood of current human advancement. In another respect, however, the content of the poem is congruent with its stance: an agnostic's prayer is a speech act whose effectiveness cannot be known—a speech act quite appropriate for a liberal ironist who realizes the contingency of his ideas and of his right to expect their realization. It was a result of her firmly held assessments that drove her to demonstration absurdly. Quhen I was young and into ply And wald cast gammaldis to the sky, I had beine bocht in realmes by, Had I consentit to be sauld. Yeats hopes that his daughter will grow and flourish with virtue and modesty.
