The Waste Land by T. S. Eliot

 Thinking Activity

The Waste Land by T. S. Eliot

          This blog is written in response to the thinking activity on 'The Waste Land' assigned by Dr. Dilip Barad sir, Department of English, MK Bhavnagar University. In this blog I am going to share my views on the prior speech of T. S. Eliot, while getting the Nobel prize in literature in 1948, remarks of Gustaf Hellstron of the Swedish academy of T. S. Eliot. So Before looking at these particular questions, let's first have a brief introduction of T. S. Eliot.

T. S. Eliot:-

           Thomas Stearns Eliot was an English-American poet, playwrite, literary critic and editor. He was born on September 26, 1888 in St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. and died on January 4, 1965 in London, England. He was also leader of the Modernist movement in poetry in his works such as The Waste Land (1922) and Four Quartets (1943). Eliot had a strong influence on Anglo-American culture from the 1920s until late in the century. His experiments in diction, style, and versification revitalized English poetry, and in a series of critical essays he shattered old orthodoxies and erected new ones. The publication of Four Quartets led to his recognition as the greatest living English poet and man of letters, and in 1948 he was awarded both the Order of Merit and the Nobel Prize for Literature.(Britannica)

Major works of T. S. Eliot:-

• The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock (1915)
• The Waste Land (1922)
• Four Quartets (1943)
• Murder in the Cathedral
• His essay 'Tradition and the Individual Talent' (1919)

The Waste Land:

         The Waste Land is  long poem written by T.S. Eliot. It was first published in 1922 in London in The Criterion (October), and next in New York City in The Dial (November), finally in book form, with footnotes by Eliot. This poem contains 434-line and five-parts which was dedicated to fellow poet Ezra Pound, who helped condense the original manuscript to nearly half of its size. It was one of the most influential works of the 20th century, which is divided into five parts:

• The Burial of Dead
• The Game of Chess
• The Fire Sermon
• The Death by Water
• What the thunder said

Nietzsche and Eliot's Thoughts

         Friedrich Nietzsche, through the concept of the Übermensch (Superman) in "Also sprach Zarathustra" (1883-85), appears to offer a progressive and forward-looking solution to the crisis of faith and self that plagued his time. When considering Nietzsche's ideas in relation to T.S. Eliot's "The Waste Land," one might view Eliot as regressive since he seeks answers to contemporary issues in Upanishads, Buddhism, and Christianity. However, it would be unjustified to assert that Eliot's thoughts are more regressive than Nietzsche's, for each philosopher operates in their own unique field of thought. Eliot, as a poet, achieves universality of thought by drawing upon mytho-historical explanations for contemporary malaise. Eliot does not merely look to the past, but rather considers the consequences of particular actions that might help us to cope with the crises of the present, which have parallels to those of the past.

Indian thoughts in 'The Waste Land'

              In "The Waste Land," T.S. Eliot alludes to Indian philosophy in a captivating manner. In the poem's final section, "What the Thunder Said," Eliot draws inspiration from the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, where Prajapati's thunderous proclamation, known to devotees as "akashwani," guides seekers towards salvation. In this passage, Prajapati employs three "Da's," and Eliot employs this element to illustrate a path towards spiritual rebirth through the wisdom of India. The Upanishad recounts a tale in which Devas (angels), Asuras (demons), and Manushyas (mankind) approach Brahma and request a single word that can guide them towards enlightenment. Prajapati responds to their request by giving them a word. Eliot's reference to this story serves to highlight the importance of seeking knowledge and wisdom in one's spiritual journey.

Devas  - Da- Datta - Be a giver

Asuras - Da- Dayadhvam - Sympathise

Mankind - Da- Damyata - Self Control

        In the concluding portion of this chapter, Eliot alludes to the phrase 'Shantih, Shantih, Shantih', which signifies an everlasting peace or a peace that transcends human comprehension. Despite the bleakness and desolation depicted throughout the chapter, it does not conclude on a note of hopelessness. On the contrary, the poet offers a message of optimism for the inhabitants of the modern wasteland. According to Eliot, it is indeed possible for individuals to experience spiritual rejuvenation, and he suggests a pathway towards this through the use of the three words, 'Shanti, Shanti, Shanti'.

T. S. Eliot and Sigmund Freud 

Click here to read about the Banquet speech of Eliot and also Gustaf Hellstrom's remarks, prior to the speech of Eliot.

         Prior to the speech of T. S. Eliot, while getting the Nobel prize in literature in 1948, Gustaf Hellstrom makes some remarks on T. S. Eliot, which is very much interesting to note some points about Eliot.

• Representation of 'Primitive instinct' of Freud in Comparison to Eliot 
• Eliot's view of 'Cultural tradition'

        Frued believes that there must be collective and individual balance, which should constantly take into account man’s primitive instincts. As per the opinion of Frued both Individual and collective balance is important. And yes, giving free vent to the repressed primitive instinct leads us to happiness and a satisfied life. Primitive instinct is itself Self-preservation, aggression, the need for love, and the impulse to attain pleasure and avoid pain. All these things are very important to make an individual happy and thus a culture happy and prosperous.

            If we come to the opinion of Eliot as he believes that salvation of man lies in the preservation of the cultural tradition, we can't directly come to the conclusion. Eliot focuses on culture and tradition and forgets the needs of an Individual.  But one point that should be noted here is that Eliot with the Tradition gives importance to an Individual.       

         For Eliot, tradition is a subject of much broader implication. In 'Tradition and the Individual Talent' he says that, "Tradition is not about following and complying with our predecessors blindly. Eliot states that we cannot inherit tradition; it can only be acquired by hard labour which includes the knowledge of past writers." Eliot also declares that this tradition can be acquired by those who possess the historical sense. Here historical sense plays an essential role to consider culture and tradition. Here he focuses on the 'impersonal' side of a poet or any individual in general



           If we consider the point of Eliot that 'salvation of man lies in the preservation of the cultural tradition' is also problematic. Yes, as Frued's view of primitive instinct is important, Eliot's view is also worth considering. Because culture and tradition is something which binds us together. Eliot used the metaphor of 'rosary beads' in his work 'The Waste Land'. In 'The Waste Land' Eliot gives so many illustrations together which makes this poem very much esoteric. If we have to understand the poem, it is compulsory to look back into the traditional and cultural aspects. He tooks so references of various cultures, myths and traditional beliefs from various parts of the Globe. Culture and tradition is here rosary beads to collage all different images together to enclose a single image and idea.

          But to consider Eliot's view is also problematic. When a person is connected to particular culture, he is in a kind of bondage, he then have so many limitations which are told by that culture. So while doing so his individual needs scattered nowhere. His individual and primitive instinct becomes minor and priority is given to the cultural and traditional counterparts. These sorts of needs are also very important so that the society can also live happily and satisfactorily. 

        So as per my point of view with these arguments, it is very much difficult to come to any one particular conclusion which one is more important in human life. Both 'Primitive instinct' and 'Culture and tradition' are important to make man happy. Both these needs should be satisfied if we want a happy and healthy world. We cannot say that either of them is completely right or wrong as Gustaf Hellstrom has compared both and gave superiority, not to Eliot as per my point of view, but to the culture and tradition. This is an ongoing and never ending debate - as I think.

       At last I would like to conclude this argument with my own remarks that no one from both ideas can make a man happy. Both Frued as a Psychologist and Eliot as a critic of the society, are right at their place. But it is highly problematic to claim anyone superior or inferior. 

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For whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway

 Thinking Activity

End of the novel 'For Whom the Bell Talls'

This blog is written as a thinking activity assigned by Yesha ma'am, department of English, MKBU on the novel 'For Whom the Bell Tolls ' by Ernest Hemingway. In this blog I am going to deal with the ending of the novel.

 

Before looking at the main answer let's have a brief understanding at the introduction of the writer and the novel.

Ernest Hemingway:-

Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. He was born on July 21, 1899 and died on July 2, 1961. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction, while his adventurous lifestyle and public image brought him admiration from later generations. Hemingway produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the mid-1950s, and he was awarded the 1954 Nobel Prize in Literature. 

For Whom the Bell Tolls:-

For Whom the Bell Tolls is a novel by Ernest Hemingway. It was published in 1940. It tells the story of Robert Jordan, a young American volunteer attached to a Republican guerrilla unit during the Spanish Civil War. As a dynamiter, he is assigned to blow up a bridge during an attack on the city of Segovia.

Eng of the novel:-

For Whom the Bell Tolls ends up in a battle between the guerrillas and the fascists, where Robert Jordan and his team of guerrillas succeed to blow up the bridge. In this battle some then died and some were able to escape. Till this time of the story, readers may think that it will end happily. But the sudden burst of fascist army causes the tragedy of our central characters Robert Jordan and Maria. 

          When we reach the ending part of the novel, when the mission to blow up the bridge is completed, we may think that there will be something good at the end. When Pilar says,

"Maria! Thy Inglés is here."

     This sentence of Pilar fills up all the suspensions of Maria about her beloved Robert. Robert survives the initial battle and embraces Maria, realising that he was able to still love her in the midst of the battle. But still there are so many things which can cause anything, anything. After blowing up the bridge, Guerrillas lost their men Anselmo and Eladio. 

“And thy people?” Agustín said to Pablo out of his dry mouth.

 “All dead,” Pablo said.

     The surviving men leave by horseback but are slowed when an enemy manages to shoot Jordan's horse. The horse falls, knocking Jordan to the ground and breaking his leg in the process. Jordan realizes he will have to stay behind and accept his death. Pablo offers to kill him but Jordan refuses. He wants to be able to shoot at a few of the enemy soldiers and give his men a better chance for escape. After he got injured, he still thinks about all not his own sorrows and sufferings. He says to Pablo to take Maria away to be safe.

"No. I think the nerve is crushed. Listen. Get along, I am mucked, see? I will talk to the girl for a moment. When I say to take her, take her. She will want to stay. I will only speak to her for a moment."

The ending part is much different than the whole story. At the beginning till this moment we just get an idea that the novel is about love between Maria and Robert and the story of Spanish Civil War, its cruelty. But at this moment, we come to know that the love of Robert and Maria, which developed in three days, is not just attractive love but rather spiritual love. This concept we can observe when Robert repeatedly says,

“Now I thank thee for it. Now you are going well and fast and far and we both go in

thee. Now put thy hand here. Now put thy head down. Nay, put it down. That is right.

Now I put my hand there. Good. Thou art so good. Now do not think more. Now art thou

doing what thou should. Now thou art obeying. Not me but us both. The me in thee. Now

you go for us both. Truly. We both go in thee now. This I have promised thee. Thou art

very good to go and very kind.”

“Stand up,” he said. “Thou art me too now. Thou art all there will be of me. Stand up.”

“There is no good-by, guapa, because we are not apart. 

"We are now us" this idea is being constantly repeated by Robert which gives us a way that he has got the spiritual side of love where to be with each other is not necessary but to be with each other in their memory and heart is much more important. If we look at the situation that they were facing, it was not safe. Robert's leg is injured so he can't ride a horse or move further. If he can, there might be chances that Fascists may have caught all of them. He also prevents Maria from leaving him and goes to the safe place with Pilar. In Maria, we find that she has the concept of love to be and die with each other. As she constantly says to be with Robert. 

Roberto,” Maria turned and shouted. “Let me stay! Let me stay!”

But Robert's definition of love is far beyond her, who believes that they are  with each other forever. Now they both are one. Here I would like to compare both the main character's idea of love with two bollywood movie dialogues.

"चाहने और हासिल करने में बहुत फर्क होता है। प्यार सिर्फ हासिल करने का नाम नहीं, प्यार देने का नाम है।" (Movie- Ham Fil De Chuke sanam) - This is what Robert believes.

साथ जीएंगे साथ मरेंगे (movie - Laila)- This is what Maria believes.

“I am with thee,” Robert Jordan shouted. “I am with thee now. We are both there. Go!”

He forces the love of his life to leave him to die alone in one last confrontation with the fascists. The ending seems to bring us back to Hemingway's stereotypical studly male character, who faces the cruel truth of the situation, leaves his love, and sacrifices himself to buy his friends some time. Not when they all left, Robert thinks that, "Pilar will take care of her as well as any one can."

In the ending part we can look at Robert in a humanitarian way. He now thinks of everyone. Though in his each and every thought was Maria, but he also has compassion with other people. That we can see in the lines,

"The time is too short and you have just sent her away. Each one does what he can. You can do nothing for yourself but perhaps you can do something for another. Well, we had all our luck in four days. Not four days. It was afternoon when I first got there and it will not be noon today. That makes not quite three days and three nights. Keep it accurate, he said. Quite accurate."

"You’ve had as good a life as any one because of these last days."

He also has spiritual ideas to his death as he says "Dying is only bad when it takes a long time and hurts so much that it humiliates you." Now he is ready to die. But before he dies, he till the last atom of his breath wants to fight. With confidence he says, "Let them come. Let them come. Let them come!"

The confusions presented at the end is well developed by Hemingway. When Fascist came to attack and he has to be ready to fight, he says himself such words,

"Think about them being away, '' he said. Think about them going through the timber. Think about them crossing a creek. Think about them riding through the heather. Think about them going up the slope. Think about them O.K. tonight. Think about them travelling, all night. Think about them hiding up tomorrow. Think about them. God damn it, think about them. That’s just as far as I can think about them, he said. Think about Montana. I can’t. Think about Madrid. I can’t. Think about a cool drink of water. All right. That’s what it will be like. Like a cool drink of water. You’re a liar. It will just be nothing. That’s all it will be. Just nothing. Then do it. Do it. Do it now. It’s all right to do it now. Go on and do it now. No, you have to wait. What for? You know all right. Then wait."

At the end when he thinks about Maria and is able to shoot. This shows though their love was developed in just three days, it deepens than the love of long time..

      In his last thoughts, Robert Jordan turns to his own male ideal – his grandfather – and tries to gather himself to face death and the paralyzing pain of his wound. Nonetheless, in a tellingly human way, he admits that he doesn't prove so good at either as he'd hoped. At the end, Jordan  lays back on the earth and waits. The ending part of the novel is nicely constructed. The book's first sentence is mirrored in the last, once more describing Robert Jordan lying on the "pine needle floor" and waiting. It takes the repeated image of Robert Jordan on the forest floor itself – what's its significance? One possibility to consider is that it calls attention to Robert Jordan as an individual at once alone and in relation to the larger world – of nature, yes, but of everything more generally. Throughout, the novel contrasts the connection to nature felt by Robert Jordan and other characters with nature's lack of concern about their own suffering and death.

We can compare the ending part of the novel with Donne's poem "For whom the Bell tolls", and from this poem Hemingway has taken the title for his novel. Thematically, the title For Whom the Bell Tolls emphasizes the importance of community and fellow-feeling, the values that initially incited Robert Jordan to leave his home country to fight a foreign war. This ideas are clearly seen in the ending of the novel, where Robert thinks of everyone and doesn't become selfish for his own life. In this way, the title of the novel which is taken from Donne's poem is accurately presented at the end.

    Robert Jordan's mission to blow up the bridge succeeded. But on the other hand the attack by the Republicans has almost certainly failed, because the fascists are prepared to meet them. If the bridge operation was only significant to the extent it was part of the larger attack. By this we have a kind of doubt that Anselmo, Eladio, and Robert Jordan have risked their lives and lost them for nothing. Robert Jordan has  himself reconciled to his own death and to killing others. The attack as a whole is only a loss for the Republicans. Moreover, Robert Jordan had doubt that the attack itself would probably fail, which is why he'd written a report to the officer leading it.

        The story ends with the approach of Lieutenant Berrendo, one of the fascist leaders, and Robert Jordan taking aim to shoot him. Here, we can't find what happened to Robert, but by the forces we can imagine that in front of the Fascist army, it is impossible to survive. So we can imagine that Robert meets to the death as a myriad. 

            The novel ends with open discussion because Robert Jordan is aiming to shoot enemies. Hemingway's style of ending this novel openly to let the readers think about the upcoming situation. We as a readers may come to the conclusion that Robert dies at the end but after completing the novel.

Let's sum up...

         To conclude, we can say that the novel moves at the end in two major or universal ideas,

1. Love 
2. Humanity

The development of love rise from attraction and reached as its peak with the ideal of spiritual love. And the among the war universal ideal of humanity is also portrayed at the end with the selfless discussion of Robert. 

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Death by W. B. Yeats

Thinking Activity

Death by William Butler Yeats

This blog is written as a thinking Activity assigned Dr. Dilip Barad sir, Department of English, MKBU to study some of the poems of W. B. Yeats'. In this blog I am going study a poem 'Death' by Yeats.

Introduction:-

         Death is one of the most famous and shortest of all his poems. ‘Death’ was written in 1929 and included in Yeats’s 1933 volume The Winding Stair and Other Poems. It contains 12 lines and 6 couplets. In this poem it deals with human attitude towards death and compares and contrasts it with the death of animals which are far beyond the fear of human beings towards death.

        Yeats compares man’s awareness that he will die one day which Yeats compares with an animal’s lack of awareness of this, an animal neither fears death as  it has no concept of dying, nor hopes for life after death as man does, consoling himself through religion that death will not be the end. In "Yeats' Death: A reading" Ronald Marlam also discusses 'Concept of human death and resurrection'. Men's journey of life is continuously hoping.   In the third couplet Yeats says that,

Many times he died,

Many times rose again

          In these lines the poet shares the general or sentimental approach towards death. Not only death can end the man but there are so many things that a person goes through. He dies before dies finally. But the best thing about this death is that he rises again which is not possible after the final death of a person. We get failure which can be compared to death as in the difficult time we consciously or unconsciously utters words to get death. The bollywood comic movie 'Phir Heraferi', Baburav continuously utters words, "उठा ले रे बाबा...". Like him we also say the same everyday

          After the death we don't get another chance. But in failure, we get another chance to make our lives good.

        Here, he is probably echoing a sentiment put forward by Shakespeare in Julius Caesar: ‘Cowards die many times before'.

           The next line of the poem refers as it does to ‘A great man in his pride’. Indeed, a ‘great man’, one who has to deal with, and confront, men who commit murder, has learnt to ridicule man’s fixation upon death, which is described as mere ‘Supersession of breath’. ‘Supersession’ is an intriguing word here. The trouble of the ‘great man’ as Yeats mentions, ‘knows death to the bone’ and knows that ‘Man has created death’ – that is, death is a man-made concept. Of course, Yeats is not denying that men die; what he is rejecting here is the notion that death or mortality is something we should dwell too much upon.

"Men has created death. Death is not a clinical cessation of breed to the sentient great man, Noor has he anything but ridicule for a life in which merely breathing supersedes everything without his dreading and helping all, his death meaningless. Nothing attends the numb demise of a passive animal; actively conscious to the narrow, the great man, Alto murdered has awaited even created his end".(Yeats' Death: A reading)

             This poem can be compared or contrasted with the poem of John Donne, Holy sonnet number 10: Death be not Proud.

At one interpretation both the poems are having contrast. In 'Death', Yeats gives illustration of the fear of death of Human beings, whereas in 'Death be not Proud', Donne gives illustration that death has no command over a man. But on the other hand both can be similarly compared with each other.  Both these poems give a similar idea that death can not end human beings. Last line of both of these lines declares the same idea.

And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die. (Death be not Proud)

He knows death to the bone –

Man has created death. 

(Death)

      The ending lines of both these poems declare the idea that death can't kill man. Death is created by man. Man has death in each moment if he thinks of it like that. 

Structure:-

        The poem contains 12 lines, divided in 6 couplets. The rhyme scheme is ABAB. 

Conclusion:-

        In a nutshell, in the initial part Yeats gives illustration of the fear of death of humans whereas in the later part he contrasts his initial statement that death is created by man in his thoughts.

Click here to read "A prayer for my Daughter'

References:-

Marken, Ronald. “Yeats’s ‘Death’: A Reading.” Irish University Review, vol. 10, no. 2, 1980, pp. 244–50. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/25477354. Accessed 18 Dec. 2022.

I hope this blog will be helpful to you have better understanding of this poem.

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A prayer for my Daughter by W. B. Yeats

Thinking Activity

W. B. Yeats' poems

           This blog is written as a thinking Activity assigned Dr. Dilip Barad sir, Department of English, MKBU to study some of the poems of W. B. Yeats'. In this blog I am going study three poems by Years 'The prayer for my daughter'

William Butler Yeats:-

           William Butler Yeats is an Irish poet, dramatist, and prose writer, one of the greatest English-language poets of the 20th century. He was born June 13, 1865, Sandymount, Dublin, Ireland and died January 28, 1939, Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France. He received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1923. He belonged to the Protestant, Anglo-Irish minority that had controlled the economic, political, social, and cultural life of Ireland since at least the end of the 17th century. He was a driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival and became a pillar of the Irish literary establishment who helped to found the Abbey Theatre. In his later years he served two terms as a Senator of the Irish Free State.

       His literary career as a romantic poet and gradually evolved into a modernist poet. When he began publishing poetry in the 1880s, his poems had a lyrical, romantic style, and they focused on love, longing and loss, and Irish myths.

• The Relationship Between Art and Politics
• The Impact of Fate and the Divine on History
• The Transition from Romanticism to Modernism

His major poems include,

• The Second Coming
• The Lake Isle of Innisfire
• Sailing to Byzantium
• Easter, 1916
• An Irish Airman Foresees his Death
• The Stolen Child
• A Prayer for my Daughter
• The Circus Animals' Desertion
• Adam's Curse
• On Being asked for war poem

A Prayer for my Daughter

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-leggèd 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.

Introduction:-

           "A Prayer for my Daughter" is a poem written by William Butler Yeats. It was written in 1919 and published in 1921 as part of Yeats' collection Michael Robartes and the Dancer. This poem is written to Anne, his daughter with Georgie Hyde Lees, whom Yeats married after his last marriage proposal to Maud Gonne was rejected in 1916. Yeats wrote the poem while staying in a tower at Thoor Ballylee during the Anglo-Irish War, two days after Anne's birth on 26 February 1919. The poem reflects Yeats's complicated views on Irish Nationalism, sexuality, and is considered an important work of Modernist poetry.

           In "A Prayer for My Daughter", Yeats expresses his deep concern for his beloved daughter, Anne, and dreams for her convincing future in his poem. The poem can be read in two different perspectives, first, Yeats' concern for his daughter in the post war era and second, concern of all fathers for their children's growing future in post war era.

Surface reading of the poem:-

              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.The poem begins with the site of a storm which is howling outside the home. This storm reflects the situation of the post war period. Here the word storm is used for outside forces which can threaten the safety and thus future of his newborn child. The second line poet says that right now his child is lying in the cradle and protected by the outsider forces, as his child is surrounded by the violent forces around her. Violent forces are riots, violence, starvation or decay of mental values after the first world war. Though these dangerous forces are continuously going there she is ignorant about it as she "sleeps on". Har ignorance protects her from the uneasy knowledge but no one can protect her from outsider forces, not even her father himself. Here the poet gives reference to Robert Gregory, an Irish Air fighter, who fought and died in World War first. 

         Yeats prays that Anne will be beautiful but not excessively, which can be distracting and destructive, as it draws the attention of all even if he is an unknown person. The much beauty makes him distraught and unhappy as if he cannot fulfil his desire to possess this beauty. It will make her stand repeatedly in front of the mirror which ultimately draws her away from the practice of very practical life of hard times. In the next stanza Yeats brings two examples from Greek mythology. First, a character Helen - daughter of God Zeus, who was free of paternal control. She married several times and at last she eloped with the prince of Troy. As a result, she was doomed. Her beauty makes her fool. As she had no one to guide her, Yeats intended to guide his daughter to choose a suitable life partner. And another Maud Gonne, who misused her gifts of intellect, grace and beauty. 

       Yeats 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. 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 thrilling in one place, which shows her staying only at home. 

        In the 7th and 8th stanza the poet reflects his own love experience. He says he has cultivated minds and sought out a mind of beauty that brought him only to hate, the greatest of misfortunes. Whoever keeps no hatred within the heart, he or she will never be disturbed by outside storms. Poet let his daughter drive out hate, and she will discover that all joy, peace and fear arise only from inside of herself, and Heaven will be with her.Then, whatever, all men disturb, storms roar or all anger burst upon her, but still she will be happy. And when she marries, he wishes her to keep all pride and anger out of her home, and foster there what "custom" and "ceremony". 

Critical reading:-

            "A prayer for my Daughter' can be read from two different perspectives. 

Universal Concern of father for their children in the post war era

Feminist perspective

★ Universal concern of father for their children in the post war(post World war I) era:-

               The first and foremost perspective which this poem conveys is the universal concern of a father for their children in the post war era. Though it is not mentioned clearly, the time period in which the poem is written (1919), declares that the poet is conveying concern of the future of the upcoming generation and what sort of seeds their ancestors have sown for them and the results of that they have to bear. Though the first world war ended, there was no peace at home and abroad. Because of war so many catastrophic situations were going on, like riots, violence, Starvation. In the middle of it, it was very much difficult to handle that situation and survive. That's why Yeats has a kind of deep concern for his daughter's upcoming generation. The very first line of the poem presents this in a crystal clear way. There are several lines in the first two stanzas which can be read in this perspective. 

Once more the storm is howling.

But Gregory's wood and one bare hill

Bred on the Atlantic, can be stayed;

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.

Feminist perspective:-

          The other reading can be of the concern of the poet himself for his daughter. Yeats has so many wishes for his daughter. This observation can be seen in 3 to 10 stanzas.

             Yeats' first concern for his daughter is her physical appearance. He trace that she will be beautiful but not to beautiful which might arouse in her a sense of her own autonomy that she spent whole day looking at the mirror. Poet wants her daughter to learn courtesy. 

Structure:-

         The poem contains ten stanzas of eight lines each: two rhymed couplets followed by a quatrain of enclosed rhyme. Many of the rhyme pairs use slant rhyme.The poem also consist of straightforward iambic verse that relies on common metrical devices such as elision, acephalous lines, promotion, and metrical inversion. Lines 1, 2, 3, 5, and 8 of each stanza are iambic pentameter; lines 4, 6, and 7 are iambic tetrameters

Major themes:-

• Anxiety of a father
• Apprehension for uncertain future
• Cultivation of good qualities
• Feminine innocence
• Intellectual hatred
• Glorification of culture and customs

          To conclude, ‘A Prayer for My Daughter’ wonderfully portrays a father's concern for his daughter which becomes a universal symbol of paternal love. This poem concerns survival of a child against the violence and anarchy of the modern world. That's why Yeats prays for his daughter that she must have some noble qualities that can help her to deal with the harsh reality and upcoming hurdles with confidence. Avoiding the hatred and arrogance, she can cultivate good virtues following the traditions and customs, and being open minded she can win the love of others rather than having a ravishing beauty. In a word, Yeats urges for the restoration of Grace and order in a battered civilization under an established culture and tradition.

I hope this blog will be helpful to you to have better understanding of this poem.

Click here to read "Death" by W. B. Yeats

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