Analysis of A Prayer for My Daughter: ISC Poem

ISC Poem Sample Paper

A Prayer for My Daughter: A Poem by W.B. Yeats

Looking at the poem in detail: Part - I


Once more the storm is howling (sound produced by strong wind), and half hid (partly concealed)
Under this cradle-hood (covering on a crib or pushchair) and coverlid (covering)
My child sleeps on. There is no obstacle
But Gregory’s wood and one bare (no flora) hill
Whereby the haystack (large pile of dried grass) and roof levelling (bring roof to ground) wind.
Bred (brought up) on the Atlantic, can be stayed; (blocked)
And for an hour I have walked and prayed
Because of the great gloom (a sort of melancholy) 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 (tall trees with broad leaves) above the flooded stream;
Imagining in excited dream (trance)
That the future years had come,
Dancing to a frenzied (hysterical) drum,
Out of the murderous (homicidal) innocence of the sea.

Explanation:

We are told that the partially concealed storm is brewing not very far away while the poet’s daughter is sleeping in her crib with the hood on. Only the wood belonging to Gregory and a pile of dried grass can thwart the storm from reaching the innocent and helpless baby. It is the Atlantic Ocean raises this strong wind which is potent enough to force the haystack and roofs being raged to the ground. The poet-father has been pacing the floor and praying as a sad perturbation keeps on haunting him. As the father in the poet prays, the wind screaming upon the tower, under the arches of the bridge and blowing through the elm trees with a blaring sound is heard by him. Listening to the storm, the poet falls into a kind of trance. In his reverie, it appears to him as if the posterity has already arrived before him in the form of the drumming wind arising out of the seemingly innocent sea which has yet the power to kill.

Inner Meaning:

The storm described by Yeats actually conveys the inner turmoil in his mind because of his apprehensions about the future of his daughter. The poet has himself witnessed the ravages of war, both international and domestic. The Irish Nationalists often engaged in violent means to attain their objectives causing instability and this contributes to the poet’s anxieties regarding the times in which his daughter has to grow up. The phrase ‘roof levelling wind’ and the repetition of the word ‘scream’ bring out the turbulence of the poet’s times. His walking to and fro and offering repeated prayers show how worried he is for his daughter’s future. The verse follows the rhyming scheme aabb cddc without impeding the flow of the poem because Yeats cleverly varies the lengths of the lines.
To be continued..............


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