W.B. Yeats: A Brief Biography
William Butler Yeats, commonly known as W.B. Yeats, was born on June 13, 1865, in Sandymount, Dublin, Ireland. He died on January 28, 1939, in Menton, France. Renowned as one of the greatest poets of the 20th century, Yeats played a pivotal role in the Celtic Revival movement. He sought to rekindle interest in Ireland's Gaelic heritage and myths.
In his early years, Yeats moved between London and Dublin. He developed an acute interest in folklore, mysticism, and the occult, subjects that heavily influenced his poetry. Alongside Lady Gregory, J.M. Synge, and others, he founded the Abbey Theatre in Dublin. This became a hub for Irish drama and saw many of Yeats' own plays performed.
Yeats' literary journey can be segmented into various phases. His early works are notable for their dreamy romanticism that draws inspiration from Irish myths and legends. However, as he developed, his style became more modernist and symbolist, marked by potent imagery and a profound sense of the spiritual and mystical.
Politically, Yeats harboured nationalistic sentiments. He initially supported the Irish Nationalist movement, and this is reflected in some of his poems. However, as Ireland underwent political upheavals and civil unrest, Yeats' views evolved, often reflecting a more disillusioned perspective.
In his personal life, Yeats faced unrequited love with Maud Gonne, an Irish revolutionary. Their complicated relationship deeply influenced his poetry. In 1917, he married Georgie Hyde-Lees and had two children, Anne and Michael. His marriage also introduced him to automatic writing, further fueling his interest in the mystical.
Yeats' dedication to literature and innovative style were not overlooked. In 1923, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, becoming the first Irishman to receive the honour. The Nobel committee highlighted his "inspired poetry" which gave "expression to a whole nation."
By the time of his death in 1939, W.B. Yeats had solidified his position as a towering figure in English literature. His profound insights, coupled with his mastery of the poetic form, ensured that his legacy would endure, influencing generations of poets and readers alike.
A Prayer for my Daughter by W.B. Yeats
W.B. Yeats’ “A Prayer for My Daughter” is a touching reflection of a father’s hopes and concerns for his infant daughter. Written in 1919, shortly after the birth of his daughter Anne, the poem showcases Yeats’ fears for her future in post-WWI Ireland. The poem delves deep into beauty, innocence, virtue, and the storms life might throw in her path. Let’s break down the poem’s themes, symbolism, and context to understand its significance more deeply.
The poem starts on a stormy night with Yeats pacing the floor, contemplating the future of his newly-born daughter, who sleeps in a cradle nearby. This was a time of personal and national turmoil. Ireland was undergoing political upheavals, and Yeats, personally, was transitioning from middle age to the role of a new father.
The poem consists of ten eight-line stanzas with a regular rhyme scheme of ABABCDCD. This consistent structure may reflect the poet’s desire for order in the face of chaos. It may also reflect the regularity and stability he wishes for his daughter’s life.
Themes
1. Natural Forces vs. Human Life: The storm in the poem is not just a literal tempest but also represents the societal and political storms Yeats feared his daughter would face. This theme of nature's unpredictability juxtaposed with human vulnerability is pervasive.
2. Beauty and Innocence: Yeats wishes his daughter to be beautiful but not too beautiful. He believes that extreme beauty could lead to vanity and self-obsession, distancing her from world realities.
3. The Role of Women: Yeats has traditional views of femininity, hoping his daughter will grow to be modest, kind, and virtuous. He hopes for her to marry a good man and find happiness in domesticity.
4. The Irish Political Unrest: Yeats, a fervent nationalist, felt the effects of Ireland's political unrest very strongly. The poem’s storm serves as a metaphor for this chaos.
Symbolism and imagery
1. The Storm: As mentioned earlier, the storm represents the challenges of life and the tumultuous world the child is born into. Yeats' pacing and concern set the tone for the poem.
2. The Sea: The sea’s ever-changing nature symbolises life's unpredictability. In literature, the sea often represents the unknown or the subconscious, and here it stands for the uncertain future.
3. The Bee and the Linnet: These creatures symbolise modesty and innocence. The bee is industrious, and the linnet is known for its simple song, both representing qualities Yeats hopes his daughter will possess.
4. The Peacock: The peacock, with its extravagant plumage, symbolises vanity and arrogance. Yeats warns his daughter against such traits.
5. The “Rooted Marble” and the “Dancer like a Watery Ring”: The rooted marble stands for strength and stability, while the dancer, like a watery ring, depicts transience and fragility. Yeats hopes his daughter will possess the former qualities over the latter.
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.
Yeats introduces the setting: a stormy night with his newborn daughter sleeping in her cradle. The tempest outside is a metaphor for the chaotic world a child is born into. The "great gloom" in Yeats' mind highlights his worries about her future amidst the storm's rage. The specific references to "Gregory’s wood" and a hill tie the scene to a personal and familiar setting.
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.
Yeats describes the storm's intensity, with the wind screaming and the stream flooding. He imagines the future, represented by the "frenzied drum", indicating the chaotic world his daughter might face. The "murderous innocence of the sea" refers to life's deceptive nature, which seems calm but can be perilous.
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.
Yeats speaks of beauty's transient nature and how it doesn't guarantee happiness. He alludes to Helen of Troy, whose beauty led to the Trojan War, emphasising the dangers of excessive beauty, which can bring chaos.
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.
The poet hopes that his daughter will be blessed with beauty, but not so much that it becomes a curse. He believes that too much beauty can lead to vanity, which can in turn lead to isolation from the realities and sufferings of the world.
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.
Yeats reflects on the qualities of courtesy and lack of hatred, suggesting they stem from inner peace unaffected by external chaos. He wishes for his daughter to possess these qualities, suggesting they are more valuable than external beauty.
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.
Yeats wishes for his daughter's innocence, representing it through the imagery of bees and linnets. He hopes she'll have a nature full of music and industriousness and not get caught up in the frivolities represented by the "peacock."
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.
The poet's wishes become more specific: he desires for his daughter a life of humility, grace, and kindness, away from hatred and enmity. The "flourishing hidden tree" is a metaphor for a life full of inner riches and virtues.
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?
Yeats expresses traditional hopes for his daughter: to be virtuous, kind-hearted, and find a worthy life partner. The mention of "arrogance and hatred" points to Ireland's turmoil during that period, indicating his desire for her to stay away from such chaos.
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.
Yeats wishes for his daughter to lead a balanced life, deeply rooted in her community, traditions, and family. He contrasts the stability of "rooted marble" with the transient "watery ring", hoping she'll possess enduring virtues over fleeting ones.
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.
In the concluding stanza, Yeats prays for his daughter's safety and well-being. He hopes she will be protected from the metaphorical storm of life and lead a life of peace, balance, and happiness.
Throughout the poem, Yeats grapples with his anxieties as a new father, juxtaposing them against a turbulent world. His wishes for his daughter are filled with a mix of traditional and personal desires, grounded in his understanding of the world and its challenges.
Read the full poem here: A Prayer for my Daughter
Written by Pooran Chandra