A Prayer for My Daughter Analysis

A Prayer for My Daughter
by William Butler Yeats

Once more the storm is howling, and half hid
Under this cradle-hood and coverlid
My child sleeps on. There is no obstacle
But Gregory’s wood and one bare hill
Whereby the haystack- and roof-leveling 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.

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.

May she be granted beauty and yet not
Beauty to make a stranger’s 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.

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-legged smith for man.
It’s certain that fine women eat
A crazy salad with their meat
Whereby the Horn of Plenty is undone.

In courtesy I’d 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 beauty’s 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.

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.

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 there’s no hatred in a mind
Assault and battery of the wind
Can never tear the linnet from the leaf.

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 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?

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 Heaven’s will;
She can, though every face should scowl
And every windy quarter howl
Or every bellows burst, be happy still.

And may her bridegroom bring her to a house
Where all’s 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?
Ceremony’s a name for the rich horn,
And custom for the spreading laurel tree.

Literary analysis
“A prayer for my daughter” reflects the poet's love for his daughter. It's also about surviving the turbulence of today's world, where passions have been separated from reason. The setting of the poem is not specified, the poet speaks with his daughter himself. The tone is gloomy, precarious and frightening as well as didactic.

The poem begins with a description of the speaker praying for his innocent little daughter Anne, who is lying in the middle of the storm. “Howling and half hidden. "The poet demonstrates his feelings through the use of weather symbols. The newborn girl sleeps 'under that cradle and lid,' which implies Anne's innocence and vulnerability. Although the outside world is violent, she is protected from it. The storm is a metaphor for the struggle of the Irish people for their independence, which was an uncertain political situation in Yeats' time. He further presents the situation of the storm with “wind at roof level”, which represents turbulence in the middle of which the poet “walked and prayed for this little child for an hour”. They are surrounded by intense and threatening forces like a “flooded river”. The poet symbolizes the sea as follows: "From the murderous innocence of the sea." Despite his concern for his child in this turbulent world, he hopes for her.

The poet continues to comment on his hopes for her beauty: "May her be granted beauty and yet not." For example, some of these people have difficulty choosing the right person to live with, and they cannot "find a friend." The speaker stressed the need for female innocence. The poet leads his argument in the next stanzas, citing examples of beautiful women like Helen of Troy, whose beauty is believed to be the cause of the Trojan War. The poet wants his daughter to be polite, since love cannot come unconditionally and freely . She must earn love with good effort and kindness of heart, and she cannot win it only through physical beauty, because "hearts are not deserved as gifts, but hearts." In summary, the poet wants his daughter to have qualities that could help her look confidently and independently into the years to come.

Structural analysis
The poem is written in lyrical form and contains ten stanzas with eight lines in each stanza. The poem follows a regular rhyming scheme that is AABBCDDC as shown below:

I walked an hour praying for this little child ;; B
Imagining in excited reveries C
That the coming years had come, D
Dancing to a raging drum, D
From the murderous innocence of the sea child an hour / And heard the sea breeze scream on the tower. "The poem is rich in literary means such as symbolism, personification, paradox, sibilance, assonance, alliteration and onomatopoeia. The line" murderous innocence of the sea "is an example of paradox. Sibilance is found in the words" sea breeze, "while" cry "is also an example of an onomatopoeia. The use of the personification can be noted in the lines "future years ... dancing", which implies the transience of life. The poet uses symbols such as "sea wind" and "flooded stream", which denotes turbulent forces at work. Alliteration is present in the phrase "beauty to be granted".

Guide to Using Quotes
The poem deals with the chaotic modern world. It shows a father who is worried about his daughter's future in an uncertain political situation. The father is tense about who he is and can possibly protect his daughter from the raging storm outside because she is very beautiful. Therefore, he prays for them and gives advice on how to live successfully on earth. Similarly, modern fathers can send quotes from this poem to their daughters as advice for special occasions:

“With permission, I would have mainly learned them;
Hearts are not given, but hearts are earned
By those who are not quite beautiful;
You many who played the fool
For beauty very self, made charm wise,
And so many a poor man who moved, loved and thought to be loved,
He cannot take his eyes off of a cheerful goodness.