a prayer for my daughter summary
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Ello
The poet expresses deep concern for his infant daughter who sleeps in a cradle. The roof-levelling strong wind is blowing outside. She is well covered and protected from the onslaughts of violent wind. He paces up and down and prays for the well-being of his daughter. The strong wind makes the poet gloomy. He thinks how his daughter will face the coarse and vulgar world. He imagines the war drums which forecast ht struggle for survival. He thinks that the cruelty of man is more dangerous that the murderous innocence of the sea. She must protect herself by a shield. The shield stands for qualities and virtues. So the poet wants his daughter to be virtuous and good. The poet prays that his daughter should have beauty and not vanity. Helen, the most beautiful woman, eloped with Prince Paris of troy and this resulted in the destruction of troy. Similarly, Aphrodite (Venus) married Hephaestus, the lame blacksmith of the gods, unwisely and betrayed him later on. Maud Gonne (the poet’s beloved) married a worthless man MacBride and remained unhappy. Thus, the poet wants his daughter to inculcate the virtues of courtesy and humility. The heats of people can be won by courtesy. Even those who are not very beautiful can win the hearts of others by showing courtesy. Virtues in a woman are more important than physical beauty.
The poet wants his daughter to have happy and innocent thoughts in her mind. She should scatter her happiness all round. Her soul should flourish like a flourishing tree which gives comforts to all. He considers hatred as the worst of all evils. So he prays that his daughter should be free from this evil. If the person does not entertain hatred, no misfortunes can possible ruin his happiness. Then he thinks that intellectual hatred is the worst kind of hatred. It is the worst flaw in a person’s character. So he wants his daughter to shun strong or stubborn opinions on any subject – political or otherwise. The poet says that Maud Gonne, an extremely beautiful woman, wasted her aristocratic traditions in political arguments. If hatred is replaces by innocence, it can bring happiness to all. It will give inner peace to his daughter.
The poet wishes that his daughter gets married in a good aristocratic family which observes traditional manners and courtesies. Hatred and arrogance will have no place in that family. Arrogance and hatred are the traits of masses. Beauty and innocence come from established traditions. His love for traditional aristocratic values is reflected in the poem. He wants his daughter to follow the traditional norms and values.
The poet's last wish is that his daughter should marry a person of aristocratic family who may take her to a home where tradition and ceremony fill the atmosphere. In the end, the poem is a prayer for order and grace in a battered civilization.