Show me the summary of the poem ' PRAYER OF A SPORTSMAN ' by Berton Braley
Answers
Explanation:
The first thing Yeats wishes is that his daughter will be given beauty, but not the kind that will distract others or herself—that others might become "distraught" by her beauty, or that she might become too preoccupied with her own image in the mirror. For some people, beauty becomes more important than anything and the pursuit of beauty leads one to believe that having it means that nothing else is important in life. For some, having beauty robs them of "natural kindness," as well as honest "intimacy," which allow one to make the right choices—rather than to idolize beauty to the extent of all else, and not ever be able to find a true friend.
Yeats alludes to famous women who were considered beautiful, and that life wasn't actually so great for them. He speaks of Helen of Troy and Venus, the goddess of love. Yeats knows that beauty is fleeting: what he wishes for his daughter is to have knowledge or "have her chiefly learned..." of "courtesy."