The summary of A prayer for My Daughter by William Butler Yeats opens up with an image of the poet’s daughter who is fast asleep in her cradle. The storm he talks about at the very onset of the poem is nothing but a contrast to the quiet sleep of the baby. The poet is worried about his child and his gloominess of mind is well portrayed through the first stanza itself.
In the first stanza itself, the backdrop of the weather with the storm raging is nothing but a potent representation of Yeats feelings and his concern for the well-being of his daughter. This poem was penned after the World War has ended and the phase where he is a dangerous one which makes him worried about the future and how her daughter will fit in. The innocence and vulnerability of his daughter is well symbolized by the words “coverlid” and “cradle-hood” which shows how protected she is in her cradle.
The theme of A Prayer for My Daughter is a significant portrayal of the violent forces that surrounds the baby; something that she is ignorant of and is still unaffected or unmoved. The several different forces which pose a threat for the baby; famine, riots, starvation, violence is a sharp contrast to her innocence knowledge that protects her as she sleeps on.
The second stanza of the poem continues to head on and progress still depicting the gloominess of the poets mind and that he is worried about his daughter; Anne. (“I have walked and prayed for this young child an hour). The usage of the term “Flooded stream” represents the idea of A Prayer for My Daughter as the poet continues to explain how worried he is at the existence of the troublemakers in the society and in this world as he talks about the “elms” that are tossed out by the destructive forces. The tone of the poem reflected in the summary of A Prayer for My Daughter by William Butler Yeats is one of frenetic and chaotic in nature where human emotions are on display.
However, the poem does