"A Prayer for My
Daughter,"
by W.B. 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-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.
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.
June 1919
Summary and commentary
Certain things in human nature do
not change. It is to such great truths as love and death that poets of all ages
are impelled to give special expression in poems. In “A Prayer” Yeats is
expressing his care for the future of his baby girl. “A Prayer” is the poem of
a modern man driven by an ancient parental love to give modern expression to
some ancient truths.
Yeats was born of Protestant
Anglo-Irish parents in 1865. He became interested in writing at a young age,
and wrote some lovely Romantic poems corresponding to the end of the Romantic
19th century. In 1889 he met the love of his life who was his muse and
inspiration for a number of years, Maud Gonne, but she finally refused to marry
him despite repeated proposals, so it was only well into the 20th century that
he met and married, at the age of 51, a woman half his age who gave him the
baby girl whose future is the central
pre-occupation of “A Prayer”.
The poem consists of ten eight-line verses, which divide as to their content into five pairs of verses : I and II, setting the scene; III and IV, first wish for the girl, let her not be too beautiful; V and VI, second wish, let her be kind; VII and VIII, third wish, let her not be a modern woman; IX and X, conclusion.
Setting the scene: The poem opens in the Yeats home on the west coast of Ireland, where a stormy wind is blowing almost straight off the Atlantic Ocean. It is making the poet think of the stormy world he has known, just coming out of the First World War (1914-1918), in which his baby girl will have to grow up (verse I). He has been praying for her hard, because just as the wind is tormenting every feature of the landscape around, so Yeats can picture the whole world being whipped to a frenzy in the years to come, by some wild force like the wind off the sea (v.III). He has an intuition of what the 20th century will be like!
First wish: With half a century’s experience of life behind him, the poet hopes firstly that his little girl will not be too beautiful. Too much beauty could distract either the young men around her, or herself, because if it became her purpose in life, she could turn self-centered and unkind, and finish up being left alone (v.III). Yeats recalls from ancient Greece two examples of very beautiful but unhappy women: Helen of Troy and the goddess of love, Aphrodite (today we might think of fashion models). There is some craziness that gets into very beautiful women, Yeats has observed, so that all their gifts turn poor (v.IV).
Second wish: For his own girl the poet wishes that she may have kindness of heart rather than beauty, because whereas a woman’s exterior beauty can turn men into complete fools, her inner warmth and charm can make a man lastingly happy (v.V). May his girl grow and flourish like a tree hidden away, may her thoughts be as tuneful as the song of a bird, rejoicing everyone around, getting into no arguments or silly pursuits, rooted and thriving in one place, like a laurel-bush, happy to stay at home (v.VI).
Third wish: By way of contrast, the poet’s mind turns back to his own harsh experience. He has cultivated minds and sought out a kind of beauty that brought him only to hate, the greatest of misfortunes. Whoever nurses no hatred within will be disturbed by no storms from without (v.VII). Yeats recalls in particular the love of his life, without mentioning her name, who by spurning withdrawal and pushing herself and her opinions on everyone around, trashed her splendid gifts and turned, as we would say today, into an angry old bag (v.VIII).
Conclusion: Let his daughter drive out hate, and she will discover that all joy, peace and fear arise only from within herself, and Heaven will be with her. Then let all men fret, let all storms rage, let all anger burst upon her, still she will be happy (v.IX). And when she marries, let her keep all pride and anger out of her home, and foster there instead what Yeats calls “custom” and “ceremony”. Custom is avoidance of unnecessary change, like the rootedness of a tree, permitting it to blossom and grow. Ceremony is all those outward forms of politeness proceeding from inward calm and dignity. In such a home will innocence and beauty flourish (v.X).
Thus the CONTENT of “A Prayer” is both classical and modern. On the one hand to say that chiefest of evils is hate (VII), suggesting that chiefest of goods is love, is the message central to 2000 years of Christian civilization. To say that a woman’s place is in the home may be unfashionable today, but it was the most classical common sense until, say, 100 years ago. Yeats has come to recognize that the true happiness of woman, as of those around her, depends on her fulfilling her vocation to live withdrawn, a life rooted in the home, where she can foster innocence and beauty. Such classical wisdom is rejected by modern woman who wants to live in public like the men, fighting to be like them, fighting her deep-down nature.
On the other hand, “A Prayer” is a product of our own times precisely because Yeats has had enough experience of modernity not only to know how unhappy his daughter will be if ever she goes the feminist way, but also to foresee that the whole of civilization is whipping itself into madness (v.II). Like so many famous writers of the last several centuries, Yeats does not have all the answers, but nobody can say he has no handle on the problem. No reader today can say that Yeats does not speak to his situation.
Similarly the LANGUAGE of “A Prayer” is both classical and modern. On the one hand the rhyme scheme of each eight-line verse is regular (ababcddc), the rhythm of each line is basically iambic (te-TUM), and no sentence is so difficult to read that it cannot with a little attention be understood. On the other hand there are some rough rhymes (e.g.obstacle-hill, not-distraught, dull-fool, etc.), there are in each verse two four-beat lines (6 and 7) to prevent any monotony within the framework of the staple five-beat lines, and there are plenty of striking and original expressions that stop the mind from sliding over without thinking, as one does with the language of the mass media. One must pay more than a little attention to catch the full meaning of, for instance, “horn of plenty”, “custom” and “ceremony”. Thus Yeats uses words to the full, but in a modern way, without any trace of Romanticism or sentimentality, even to express a father’s concern for his child. He is a modern poet.
Yet he does not have all the answers. The gloom arising within him when he thinks of his child growing up in the world as he knows it is enough to drive him to pray, but there is no mention of God. The father’s concern is genuine, but how far does it reach? Heaven does get a mention in verse IX, but the same verse, as it stands, suggests a practical ignorance of original sin: is “all hate driven hence” really enough for the soul to discover that “its own sweet will is Heaven’s will”? If only it were that easy! Surely Solzhenitsyn is closer to the mark when he says that pride grows on the human soul like the lard on a pig!
However, we do not go to the poets for high theology. Not even Dante’s theology is reliable, when for instance he places heresy only halfway down Hell. We go to the poets for a masterly use of our language, enhanced by rhyme and rhythm, to give expression to things of the human mind and heart which we have known and felt at least in part, but which we could never ourselves have uttered so well. How poor is a civilization turning its back on its poets! Is it still a civilization? How wretched our schools that no longer have the children learn poems by heart and then recite them! How little a people knows itself that does not know its poets! The Rockers and the Rappers will steal away their children, as Yeats dimly foresaw, and turn them into anything but nourishers of innocence and beauty.
The poem consists of ten eight-line verses, which divide as to their content into five pairs of verses : I and II, setting the scene; III and IV, first wish for the girl, let her not be too beautiful; V and VI, second wish, let her be kind; VII and VIII, third wish, let her not be a modern woman; IX and X, conclusion.
Setting the scene: The poem opens in the Yeats home on the west coast of Ireland, where a stormy wind is blowing almost straight off the Atlantic Ocean. It is making the poet think of the stormy world he has known, just coming out of the First World War (1914-1918), in which his baby girl will have to grow up (verse I). He has been praying for her hard, because just as the wind is tormenting every feature of the landscape around, so Yeats can picture the whole world being whipped to a frenzy in the years to come, by some wild force like the wind off the sea (v.III). He has an intuition of what the 20th century will be like!
First wish: With half a century’s experience of life behind him, the poet hopes firstly that his little girl will not be too beautiful. Too much beauty could distract either the young men around her, or herself, because if it became her purpose in life, she could turn self-centered and unkind, and finish up being left alone (v.III). Yeats recalls from ancient Greece two examples of very beautiful but unhappy women: Helen of Troy and the goddess of love, Aphrodite (today we might think of fashion models). There is some craziness that gets into very beautiful women, Yeats has observed, so that all their gifts turn poor (v.IV).
Second wish: For his own girl the poet wishes that she may have kindness of heart rather than beauty, because whereas a woman’s exterior beauty can turn men into complete fools, her inner warmth and charm can make a man lastingly happy (v.V). May his girl grow and flourish like a tree hidden away, may her thoughts be as tuneful as the song of a bird, rejoicing everyone around, getting into no arguments or silly pursuits, rooted and thriving in one place, like a laurel-bush, happy to stay at home (v.VI).
Third wish: By way of contrast, the poet’s mind turns back to his own harsh experience. He has cultivated minds and sought out a kind of beauty that brought him only to hate, the greatest of misfortunes. Whoever nurses no hatred within will be disturbed by no storms from without (v.VII). Yeats recalls in particular the love of his life, without mentioning her name, who by spurning withdrawal and pushing herself and her opinions on everyone around, trashed her splendid gifts and turned, as we would say today, into an angry old bag (v.VIII).
Conclusion: Let his daughter drive out hate, and she will discover that all joy, peace and fear arise only from within herself, and Heaven will be with her. Then let all men fret, let all storms rage, let all anger burst upon her, still she will be happy (v.IX). And when she marries, let her keep all pride and anger out of her home, and foster there instead what Yeats calls “custom” and “ceremony”. Custom is avoidance of unnecessary change, like the rootedness of a tree, permitting it to blossom and grow. Ceremony is all those outward forms of politeness proceeding from inward calm and dignity. In such a home will innocence and beauty flourish (v.X).
Thus the CONTENT of “A Prayer” is both classical and modern. On the one hand to say that chiefest of evils is hate (VII), suggesting that chiefest of goods is love, is the message central to 2000 years of Christian civilization. To say that a woman’s place is in the home may be unfashionable today, but it was the most classical common sense until, say, 100 years ago. Yeats has come to recognize that the true happiness of woman, as of those around her, depends on her fulfilling her vocation to live withdrawn, a life rooted in the home, where she can foster innocence and beauty. Such classical wisdom is rejected by modern woman who wants to live in public like the men, fighting to be like them, fighting her deep-down nature.
On the other hand, “A Prayer” is a product of our own times precisely because Yeats has had enough experience of modernity not only to know how unhappy his daughter will be if ever she goes the feminist way, but also to foresee that the whole of civilization is whipping itself into madness (v.II). Like so many famous writers of the last several centuries, Yeats does not have all the answers, but nobody can say he has no handle on the problem. No reader today can say that Yeats does not speak to his situation.
Similarly the LANGUAGE of “A Prayer” is both classical and modern. On the one hand the rhyme scheme of each eight-line verse is regular (ababcddc), the rhythm of each line is basically iambic (te-TUM), and no sentence is so difficult to read that it cannot with a little attention be understood. On the other hand there are some rough rhymes (e.g.obstacle-hill, not-distraught, dull-fool, etc.), there are in each verse two four-beat lines (6 and 7) to prevent any monotony within the framework of the staple five-beat lines, and there are plenty of striking and original expressions that stop the mind from sliding over without thinking, as one does with the language of the mass media. One must pay more than a little attention to catch the full meaning of, for instance, “horn of plenty”, “custom” and “ceremony”. Thus Yeats uses words to the full, but in a modern way, without any trace of Romanticism or sentimentality, even to express a father’s concern for his child. He is a modern poet.
Yet he does not have all the answers. The gloom arising within him when he thinks of his child growing up in the world as he knows it is enough to drive him to pray, but there is no mention of God. The father’s concern is genuine, but how far does it reach? Heaven does get a mention in verse IX, but the same verse, as it stands, suggests a practical ignorance of original sin: is “all hate driven hence” really enough for the soul to discover that “its own sweet will is Heaven’s will”? If only it were that easy! Surely Solzhenitsyn is closer to the mark when he says that pride grows on the human soul like the lard on a pig!
However, we do not go to the poets for high theology. Not even Dante’s theology is reliable, when for instance he places heresy only halfway down Hell. We go to the poets for a masterly use of our language, enhanced by rhyme and rhythm, to give expression to things of the human mind and heart which we have known and felt at least in part, but which we could never ourselves have uttered so well. How poor is a civilization turning its back on its poets! Is it still a civilization? How wretched our schools that no longer have the children learn poems by heart and then recite them! How little a people knows itself that does not know its poets! The Rockers and the Rappers will steal away their children, as Yeats dimly foresaw, and turn them into anything but nourishers of innocence and beauty.
© H.E. Bishop Williamson
A Prayer of My Daughter by WB Yeats - an analysis
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.
Stanza 1: The weather is a reflection of Yeats’ feelings. The post-war period was dangerous. Anne’s 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 can 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 Anne’s safety.
“cradlehood” represents Anne’s innocence and infancy.
“coverlid” represents innocence and ignorance, frail protection.
“wind” represents turbulent forces.
“one bare hill” may represent Robert’s 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. “I have 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.
“Imagining…the future years had come/Dancing to a frenzied drum.” Anne’s life will pass in chaos. “Dancing to a frenzied drum” also indicates the passing years in Anne’s 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.
Anne’s 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”, Anne’s 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 stranger’s 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 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 Anne’s 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 society’s shallowness.
Tone: imploring, beseeching, prayer-like, reflective.
Literary devices: personification - “stranger’s eye distraught” - attracts and saddens one who is attracted
Symbol - the “stranger” is an unhappy admirer.
Alliteration - “stranger’s 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 way/ 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 representsa 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, that have played the fool/ For beauty’s 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 loving 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 captivate 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 person praises good unbeautiful women – like Georgie – who are more loved by men compared to harsh beautiful ones – Maud Gonne.
Tone: reflective, advisory, grateful, enlightened.
Literary devices: personification - “glad kindness cannot take his eyes”
“charm made wise.”
Symbol - “hearts” – love.
Stanza 1: The weather is a reflection of Yeats’ feelings. The post-war period was dangerous. Anne’s 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 can 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 Anne’s safety.
“cradlehood” represents Anne’s innocence and infancy.
“coverlid” represents innocence and ignorance, frail protection.
“wind” represents turbulent forces.
“one bare hill” may represent Robert’s 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. “I have 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.
“Imagining…the future years had come/Dancing to a frenzied drum.” Anne’s life will pass in chaos. “Dancing to a frenzied drum” also indicates the passing years in Anne’s 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.
Anne’s 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”, Anne’s 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 stranger’s 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 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 Anne’s 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 society’s shallowness.
Tone: imploring, beseeching, prayer-like, reflective.
Literary devices: personification - “stranger’s eye distraught” - attracts and saddens one who is attracted
Symbol - the “stranger” is an unhappy admirer.
Alliteration - “stranger’s 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 way/ 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 representsa 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, that have played the fool/ For beauty’s 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 loving 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 captivate 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 person praises good unbeautiful women – like Georgie – who are more loved by men compared to harsh beautiful ones – Maud Gonne.
Tone: reflective, advisory, grateful, enlightened.
Literary devices: personification - “glad kindness cannot take his eyes”
“charm made wise.”
Symbol - “hearts” – love.
Stanza 6:
From here onwards, more symbolism and interesting interpretation can be
derived. Yeats hopes that his daughter will grow and flourish with virtue and
modesty. “May she become a flourishing hidden
tree.” She must be “hidden”
– not too open and opinionated like Maud Gonne. A “tree”
is fresh, soothing and natural. He wants her to be calm, good-natured and
natural – not over-influenced by opinionated ideas. (Why not a flower – which
is a commonly used to symbolize a girl? Possibly a flower is too attractive and
open. Refer to Stanza 3.)
Yeats wishes that Anne will have merry, pleasant thoughts. He wants her to talk of good, pleasant things. “That all her thoughts may like the linnet be, / And have no business but dispensing around / Their magnanimities of sound.” The linnet is a bird which flies, representing a merry, sweet, girl – not too serious, bombastic and violent like Maud Gonne.
Yeats wants Anne to chase and quarrel only in merriment. He wants her to be happy and not too ambitious or opinionated. “Nor but in merriment begin a chase,/ Nor but in merriment a quarrel.” He does not want her to “:chase” ambition ruthlessly. The “quarrel” indicated is mere arguing for fun.
Yeats wants Anne to have a solid home and top be stable. “Rooted in one dear perpetual place.” The home is happy, hence it is “dear.” This may also indicate loyalty to one man. Maud Gonne had consummated a relationship with Lucien Millevoye – with two illegitimate children – and gone on to marry John McBride. Yeats wants Anne to be constant to one man, unlike Maud Gonne.
“O may she live like some green laurel.” Here, Yeats uses mythology. The “green laurel” may refer to the nymph Daphne who was pursued by Apollo. Eager to protect her virtue, Daphne turned into a laurel tree. Similarly, Yeats wants Anne to be virtuous, unlike Maud Gonne. The word “green” in turn may symbolize peace, innocence and youth. We have already mentioned peace – in her home - and innocence. Anne’s youth is not physical but mental. Her father wishes that she will be merry and young at heart. Why green – not red or brown? Russet – reddish-brown – is associated with autumn or middle age and decline. Maud will fade and has declined due to her non-innocence. Her opinions do not denote one who is young at heart. Green denotes being young at heart. It also means inexperience or innocence – something merry, lively and different, a welcome change. For we say inexperienced people are “green”. Yeats does not what his daughter to be dreary and old at soul. Maud is certainly experienced; he wishes for Anne’s mental youth and innocence and vitality also represented by the colour green. For it may indicate evergreenness. Trees that are green are fresh and alive; russet trees are dying and fading. Maud declines because she is experienced and deflowered; her mental youth is gone. Hence Anne is the opposite – green. Anne, being “green” hopefully will retain mental youth with no worse change.
Tone: hopeful, prayer-like, more positive.
Literary devices: symbol - “hidden tree” – Anne, virtue and modesty
Symbol - “green laurel” – virtue, modesty, mental youth, evergreenness, innocence, inexperience.
Simile - “that all her thoughts may like the linnet be” – that Anne’s thoughts will be pleasant and merry.
Metaphor – “Rooted” – constancy and stability
Metaphor – “One dear perpetual place” – Anne’s home.
Stanza 7: Yeats states that his mind does not benefit but “has dried up of late” or weakened, tired and not stimulated because of the mind of Maud Gonne (whom “I have loved” and whose beauty he admired) barely prospers. He has mentioned her deficiencies. This weakens him. “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,”
However, he states that hatred is the worst attribute and “of all evil chances evil.”
“If there’s no hatred in a mind / Assault and battery of the wind / Can never tear the linnet away from the leaf.” The” wind” signifies the destructive forces around Anne and it “cannot tear” Anne – symbolized by a linnet – away form the “leaf” – a fragile place or condition. “Linnet” and “leaf” portray something fragile. Sufferings and destructive forces cannot destroy the fragile who do not hate as their minds are clear, calm and free. Negative thoughts make us suffer.
Tone: Sad, stronger, confidents, lecture-like, reflective.
Literary devices: symbol - “wind” – destructive forces
Symbol - “linnet” – Anne
Symbol – “Leaf” – a fragile place or condition.
Personification – “Assault and battery of the wind” – destruction.
Stanza 8: “An intellectual hatred is the worst, / So let her think opinions are accursed.” The hatred of an opinionated intellectual like Maud gonne is the worst because it is strong, destructive, opinionated and the person knows the reason for this hatred. The intellectual resists opposition and fights for his cause. There are good reasons for this cause and hatred. Trivial hatred is weak, for there is little reason. An intellectual, being determined and clever, will fight for a cause with passion and determination. Yeats does not want Anne to be over-opinionated. “So let her think opinions are accursed.”
Yeats states that Maud Gonne had plentiful gifts which she did “barter that horn and every good / For an old bellows full of angry wind.” The horn symbolizes gifts. The “bellows full of angry wind” depict her strong opinions. It can also represent John McBride, who started a riot. Perhaps he could be said to be full of hot air or opinions but little successful effort. “and every good / By quiet natures understood” are her advantages which are understood and appreciated by people with quiet natures (Yeats?). This makes sense especially with McBride’s loudness and abuse of his wife. The “angry wind” is despicable (McBride). Maud did not use her gifts properly, though she had courtesy, grace, ceremony, and aristocracy.
Tone: Lecture-like, reflective, cynical.
Literary devices: Symbol - “Plenty’s horn,” symbolizing gifts and advantages.
Metaphor - “an old bellows full of angry wind” – Strong opinions, John McBride (the abusive husband of Maud Gonne).
Yeats wishes that Anne will have merry, pleasant thoughts. He wants her to talk of good, pleasant things. “That all her thoughts may like the linnet be, / And have no business but dispensing around / Their magnanimities of sound.” The linnet is a bird which flies, representing a merry, sweet, girl – not too serious, bombastic and violent like Maud Gonne.
Yeats wants Anne to chase and quarrel only in merriment. He wants her to be happy and not too ambitious or opinionated. “Nor but in merriment begin a chase,/ Nor but in merriment a quarrel.” He does not want her to “:chase” ambition ruthlessly. The “quarrel” indicated is mere arguing for fun.
Yeats wants Anne to have a solid home and top be stable. “Rooted in one dear perpetual place.” The home is happy, hence it is “dear.” This may also indicate loyalty to one man. Maud Gonne had consummated a relationship with Lucien Millevoye – with two illegitimate children – and gone on to marry John McBride. Yeats wants Anne to be constant to one man, unlike Maud Gonne.
“O may she live like some green laurel.” Here, Yeats uses mythology. The “green laurel” may refer to the nymph Daphne who was pursued by Apollo. Eager to protect her virtue, Daphne turned into a laurel tree. Similarly, Yeats wants Anne to be virtuous, unlike Maud Gonne. The word “green” in turn may symbolize peace, innocence and youth. We have already mentioned peace – in her home - and innocence. Anne’s youth is not physical but mental. Her father wishes that she will be merry and young at heart. Why green – not red or brown? Russet – reddish-brown – is associated with autumn or middle age and decline. Maud will fade and has declined due to her non-innocence. Her opinions do not denote one who is young at heart. Green denotes being young at heart. It also means inexperience or innocence – something merry, lively and different, a welcome change. For we say inexperienced people are “green”. Yeats does not what his daughter to be dreary and old at soul. Maud is certainly experienced; he wishes for Anne’s mental youth and innocence and vitality also represented by the colour green. For it may indicate evergreenness. Trees that are green are fresh and alive; russet trees are dying and fading. Maud declines because she is experienced and deflowered; her mental youth is gone. Hence Anne is the opposite – green. Anne, being “green” hopefully will retain mental youth with no worse change.
Tone: hopeful, prayer-like, more positive.
Literary devices: symbol - “hidden tree” – Anne, virtue and modesty
Symbol - “green laurel” – virtue, modesty, mental youth, evergreenness, innocence, inexperience.
Simile - “that all her thoughts may like the linnet be” – that Anne’s thoughts will be pleasant and merry.
Metaphor – “Rooted” – constancy and stability
Metaphor – “One dear perpetual place” – Anne’s home.
Stanza 7: Yeats states that his mind does not benefit but “has dried up of late” or weakened, tired and not stimulated because of the mind of Maud Gonne (whom “I have loved” and whose beauty he admired) barely prospers. He has mentioned her deficiencies. This weakens him. “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,”
However, he states that hatred is the worst attribute and “of all evil chances evil.”
“If there’s no hatred in a mind / Assault and battery of the wind / Can never tear the linnet away from the leaf.” The” wind” signifies the destructive forces around Anne and it “cannot tear” Anne – symbolized by a linnet – away form the “leaf” – a fragile place or condition. “Linnet” and “leaf” portray something fragile. Sufferings and destructive forces cannot destroy the fragile who do not hate as their minds are clear, calm and free. Negative thoughts make us suffer.
Tone: Sad, stronger, confidents, lecture-like, reflective.
Literary devices: symbol - “wind” – destructive forces
Symbol - “linnet” – Anne
Symbol – “Leaf” – a fragile place or condition.
Personification – “Assault and battery of the wind” – destruction.
Stanza 8: “An intellectual hatred is the worst, / So let her think opinions are accursed.” The hatred of an opinionated intellectual like Maud gonne is the worst because it is strong, destructive, opinionated and the person knows the reason for this hatred. The intellectual resists opposition and fights for his cause. There are good reasons for this cause and hatred. Trivial hatred is weak, for there is little reason. An intellectual, being determined and clever, will fight for a cause with passion and determination. Yeats does not want Anne to be over-opinionated. “So let her think opinions are accursed.”
Yeats states that Maud Gonne had plentiful gifts which she did “barter that horn and every good / For an old bellows full of angry wind.” The horn symbolizes gifts. The “bellows full of angry wind” depict her strong opinions. It can also represent John McBride, who started a riot. Perhaps he could be said to be full of hot air or opinions but little successful effort. “and every good / By quiet natures understood” are her advantages which are understood and appreciated by people with quiet natures (Yeats?). This makes sense especially with McBride’s loudness and abuse of his wife. The “angry wind” is despicable (McBride). Maud did not use her gifts properly, though she had courtesy, grace, ceremony, and aristocracy.
Tone: Lecture-like, reflective, cynical.
Literary devices: Symbol - “Plenty’s horn,” symbolizing gifts and advantages.
Metaphor - “an old bellows full of angry wind” – Strong opinions, John McBride (the abusive husband of Maud Gonne).
© Claire Wong
Great work Miss...it helped me alot...
ReplyDeleteIt helped alot thank you so much
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