Prayer Before Birth: Louise MacNeice

 About Louis Macneice :-

Louis Macneice was born in Belfast, Ireland, and lived from 1907 until 1963. Therefore, he would have experienced World War I in his very early years and World War II in his later years. This particular poem was written during the Second World War. It is easy to see the author’s point of view in this poem. He writes from his own perspective as a newborn baby.

Of course, it quickly becomes clear that the baby has knowledge of one who has already lived. Therefore, ‘Prayer Before Birth’ reads like a prayer that an old man wished he could have prayed as a newborn before the world got a hold of him with all of the evil therein. The reader, being fully aware that no such prayer can come from an infant, realize that the author himself is speaking his own thoughts through the infant child. Therefore, the author’s beliefs about evil, war, and the world are revealed.

Summary of the Poem :-

'Prayer Before Birth' is a poem that is relevant still today and grows more powerful as the world becomes a more dangerous place. It is a dramatic monologue but has the pattern of an incantation and the spirit of a prayer.

The speaker is the unborn child inside the mother's womb, thinking of the future as it is about to be born. This unusual perspective gives the poem a highly charged aura which intensifies as the stanzas progress.

Here is a baby who is already fearful, who intuitively knows that the world it is about to enter surely isn't anywhere close to Paradise.

The child pleas for protection and prays that it won't be corrupted once it emerges onto planet earth. This is unsettling reading for any adult, even with only an iota of sensitivity, the potential horrors this little human being faces beggars belief. Yet, the poem is firmly rooted in grim reality.

Louis MacNeice's poem captures the fears and anxieties perfectly because the voice is that of the baby not yet out into the war-torn air. And with each stanza comes the build-up of understanding for the reader - these are also the fears of the adults, the parents and the generations that allowed such an environment to exist in the first place.

Themes :-

Throughout ‘Prayer Before Birth,’ the poet engages with themes of religion and life struggles. This unusual poem, which comes from a very special speaker, engages with these themes in a direct way. Readers are not going to have trouble understanding the speaker’s view on religion and God, as well as life’s struggles. They spend the lines discussing the hard life they have to deal with once they’re born and their hope that God is going to grant them joy throughout it. It’s only through God, they allude, that they can live a good life.

Structure and Form :-

‘Prayer Before Birth’ by Louis MacNeice is an eight-stanza poem that is divided into uneven sets of lines. The first and sixth stanzas have three lines, the second and third have four, the fourth has six, the fifth has seven, and the seventh has ten. The poet chose to write this poem in free verse. This means that the lines do not conform to a specific rhyme scheme or metrical pattern. But, that doesn’t mean the poem is entirely without rhyme. Even those written in free verse still make use of some examples of structure. For example, the exact rhyme with “me” is repeated twice in stanza six and eight.

Literary Devices :-

MacNeice makes use of several literary devices in ‘Prayer Before Birth.’ These include but are not limited to:

Caesura  occurs when the writer inserts a pause into the middle of a line. It can be done through meter or punctuation. For example, “would make me a cog in a machine, a thing with” in stanza seven.

Epistrophe occurs when lines end with the same word/words. For example, “me” at the ends of all four lines of stanza two. The word “me” ends lines in every stanza, in fact.

Enjambment occurs when the poet cuts off a line before its natural stopping point. For example, the transition between lines one and two of stanza seven and lines one and two of stanza three.

Mood of Poem :-

The mood is contemplative and concerned. Most readers may find some peace in the speaker’s words because there's also a concern as they’re inspired to consider their own life and what a child might experience they brought into it. The innocence of childhood is powerfully contrasted against the darkness of reality.

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Ozymandias -Shelley

 Introduction :-

"Ozymandias" is a sonnet written by the English romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822). It was first published in the 11 January 1818 issue of The Examiner of London. The poem was included the following year in Shelley's collection Rosalind and Helen, A Modern Eclogue; with Other Poems, and in a posthumous compilation of his poems published in 1826.

Shelley wrote the poem in friendly competition with his friend and fellow poet Horace Smith (1779–1849), who also wrote a sonnet on the same topic with the same title. The poem explores the worldly fate of history and the ravages of time: even the greatest men and the empires they forge are impermanent, their legacies fated to decay into oblivion.

About the Poet :-

Percy Bysshe Shelley ( 4 August 1792 – 8 July 1822) was one of the major English Romantic poets.[3][4] A radical in his poetry as well as in his political and social views, Shelley did not achieve fame during his lifetime, but recognition of his achievements in poetry grew steadily following his death and he became an important influence on subsequent generations of poets including Robert Browning, Algernon Charles Swinburne, Thomas Hardy, and W. B. Yeats.[5] American literary critic Harold Bloom describes him as "a superb craftsman, a lyric poet without rival, and surely one of the most advanced sceptical intellectuals ever to write a poem."

Tragically, Shelley died young, at the age of 29, when the boat he was sailing got caught in a storm. His body washed to shore sometime later.

A Poem :-

I met a traveller from an antique land,

Who said—“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone

Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand,

Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,

And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,

Tell that its sculptor well those passions read

Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,

The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;

And on the pedestal, these words appear:

My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;

Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!

Nothing beside remains. Round the decay

Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare

The lone and level sands stretch far away.”

BY PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY

Analysis of the Poem :-

• Summary of the Poem :-

In this poem, the speaker describes meeting a traveler “from an antique land.” The title, ‘Ozymandias,’ notifies the reader that this land is most probably Egypt since Ozymandias was what the Greeks called Ramses II. He was a great and terrible pharaoh in ancient Egypt.

The traveler tells a story to the speaker. In the story, he describes visiting Egypt. There, he saw a large and intimidating statue of Ramses in the desert. He can tell that the sculptor must have known his subject well because it is obvious from the statue’s face that this man was a great leader, but one who could also be very vicious.

He describes his sneer as having a “cold command.” Even though the leader was probably very great, it seems that the only thing that survives from his realm is this statue, which is half-buried and somewhat falling apart.

• Structure and Form

Form :- Sonnet

Rhyme Scheme :- ABABACDC EDEFEF

Meter :- Iambic Pentameter

‘Ozymandias’ is considered to be a Petrarchan sonnet, even though the rhyme scheme varies slightly from the traditional sonnet form. Structurally all sonnets contain fourteen lines and are written in iambic pentameter.

The rhyme scheme of ‘Ozymandias’ is ABABACDC EDEFEF. This rhyme scheme differs from the rhyme scheme of a traditional Petrarchan sonnet, whose octave (the first eight lines of the poem) usually has a rhyme scheme of ABBAABBA. Its sestet (the final six lines of the sonnet) does not have an assigned rhyme scheme, but it usually rhymes in every other line or contains three different rhymes.

Shelley’s defiance of this rhyme scheme helps to set apart ‘Ozymandias’ from other Petrarchan sonnets, and it is perhaps why this poem is so memorable. The reason he did this may have been to represent the corruption of authority or lawmakers.

• Literary Devices :-

Shelley plays with a number of figurative devices in order to make the sonnet more appealing to readers. These devices include:

1. Enjambment :- Shelley uses this device throughout the text. For example, it occurs in lines 2-8. By enjambing the lines, the poet creates a surprising flow.

2. Alliteration :- It occurs in “an antique,” “stone/ Stand,” “sunk a shattered,” “cold command,” etc.

3. Metaphor :- The “sneer of cold command” contains a metaphor. Here, the ruler’s contempt for his subjugates is compared to the ruthlessness of a military commander.

4. Irony :- Shelley uses this device in the following lines, “Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!/ Nothing beside remains.” The following lines also contain this device.

5. Synecdoche :- In the poem, the “hand” and “heart” collectively hint at the pharaoh, Ozymandias, as a whole. It is a use of synecdoche.

6. Allusion :- The line “My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings” is an allusion to the actual inscription described in the Greek historian Diodorus Siculus’s Bibliotheca historica.

Themes of the Poem :-

Shelley makes use of a number of themes in this sonnet. The most important theme is the impermanence of a ruler’s glory and his legacy. It is an implicit hint at the idea of futility. No matter how hard a man tries to rivet his name, at some point, people will forget him. For example, Ozymandias tried to become greater than God. He declared himself the “King of Kings.” If we look at history, every ambitious ruler declared them, more or less, by the same title. In their pursuit of greatness, they forgot about their very nature: every living thing must die. Besides, the sonnet also utilizes the themes of vainglory, the power of art, the decline of power, etc.

Conclusion :-

The passage of time destroys even the most powerful or mightiest person or thing in the world. Thus, we should not be boastful, egoistic or live with pride. Instead, we should live a life of simplicity.

The Soldier -Rupert Brook

 The Soldier

BY RUPERT BROOKE

Introduction :-

"The Soldier" is a poem written by Rupert Brooke. The poem is the fifth in a series of poems entitled 1914. It was published in 1915 in the book 1914 and Other Poems.

It is often contrasted with Wilfred Owen's 1917 antiwar poem "Dulce et Decorum est". The manuscript is located at King's College, Cambridge.

The Poem :-

If I should die, think only this of me:

      That there’s some corner of a foreign field

That is for ever England. There shall be

      In that rich earth a richer dust concealed;

A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware,

      Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam;

A body of England’s, breathing English air,

      Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home.

And think, this heart, all evil shed away,

      A pulse in the eternal mind, no less

            Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given;

Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day;

      And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness,

            In hearts at peace, under an English heaven.

Note :- This poem has had two titles: “The Soldier” and “Nineteen-Fourteen: The Soldier”. The student may give either title during the recitation.

About the Poet :-

Rupert Chawner Brooke (3 August 1887 – 23 April 1915[1]) was an English poet known for his idealistic war sonnets written during the First World War, especially "The Soldier". He was also known for his boyish good looks, which were said to have prompted the Irish poet W. B. Yeats to describe him as "the handsomest young man in England".

This poem, 'The Soldier', is not only one of Brooke's most famous poems but one of the most famous poems written during the war and indeed in the 20th century. Here it is accompanied by another of Brooke's well-known sonnets, 'The Dead'.

“The Soldier” Summary :-

If I die in the war, I want to be remembered in a particular way. Think of how the far-off land on which I die will have a small piece of England forever. That earth will be enriched by my dead body, because my body is made from dirt born in England. England created me and gave me consciousness, gave me her blooming plants to fall in love with, and gave me my sense of freedom. My body belongs to England, has always breathed English air. England's rivers cleansed me, and I was blessed by England's sun.

Also consider the way in which my soul, through death, will be made pure. My consciousness will return to the immortal consciousness like a beating pulse, and return the beautiful thoughts that England gave me. I'll return the sights and sounds of my home country; to the beautiful dreams that were as happy as England's daytime; and to the laughter shared with English friends. And I'll return England's gentleness, which lives in the English minds that are at peace under the English sky (the English heaven where I will be at peace too when I die).

Analysis of the Poem :-

The Soldier” Setting :-

The setting of this poem can fairly be described as the speaker's idea of England. He sees himself—in both body and mind—as an extension of England. If he is to die during the war, then a small part of England will enrich the soil wherever he dies. The rest of the first stanza discusses his beloved England, portraying it as a pastoral paradise—saying little of the rain that often falls there! Instead, England is like Eden: a kind of rich and beautiful garden full of flowers, fresh air, flowing rivers, and sunshine. This sets up the way that the second stanza explicitly links England to heaven itself ("hearts at peace, under an English heaven"). Indeed, heaven and England are practically interchangeable in the speaker's mind.

“The Soldier” Speaker :-

The speaker in this poem is, of course, the "soldier" of the title. The reader learns nothing specific about this soldier's circumstances, and that's because this soldier is a kind of idealised figure who represents an equally idealised way of considering nationhood and patriotism.

Rhyme Scheme :-

"The Soldier" has a regular rhyme scheme that borrows from two different sonnet traditions, using a Shakespearean rhyme scheme in the octave (the first eight lines) and a Petrarchan rhyme scheme in the sestet (the final six).

The octave is rhymed :- ABABCDCD

Meter :-

"The Soldier" is written in formal, metrical verse. As is typical of sonnets in the English language, Brooke employs iambic pentameter—lines of five feet with an unstressed-stressed, da DUM, syllable pattern—throughout the poem.

Form :-

"The Soldier" borrows from both the Shakespearean and the Petrarchan versions of the sonnet. The first stanza follows the rhyme scheme of a Shakespearean sonnet, while the second follows that of a Petrarchan sonnet. Structurally, however, the poem more closely adheres to the Petrarchan sonnet overall, which is divided into an octave (an eight-line stanza) and a sestet (a six-line stanza).

Conclusion :-

So, this poem is based on the theme of patriarchy and the love for nation. Rubert Brooke is mostly wrote his poems on the favour of world war and he expresses his love for his nation through his poems.

The Daffodils -Wordsworth

 Introduction :-

"I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" (also commonly known as "Daffodils") is a lyric poem by William Wordsworth. It is one of his most popular, and was inspired by a forest encounter on 15 April 1802 between he, his younger sister Dorothy and a "long belt" of daffodils. Written in 1804, it was first published in 1807 in Poems, in Two Volumes, and as a revision in 1815.

Poem :-

 I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine

And twinkle on the milky way,

They stretched in never-ending line

Along the margin of a bay:

Ten thousand saw I at a glance,

Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they

Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:

A poet could not but be gay,

In such a jocund company:

I gazed—and gazed—but little thought

What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood,

They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude;

And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the daffodils.

– William Wordsworth (1802)

About the Poet :-

William Wordsworth (7 April 1770 – 23 April 1850) was an English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication Lyrical Ballads (1798).

Wordsworth's magnum opus is generally considered to be The Prelude, a semi-autobiographical poem of his early years that he revised and expanded a number of times. It was posthumously titled and published by his wife in the year of his death, before which it was generally known as "the poem to Coleridge".

Wordsworth was Poet Laureate from 1843 until his death from pleurisy on 23 April 1850.

Summary of the Poem :-

The speaker, likely William Wordsworth himself, is wandering down the hills and valley when he stumbled upon a beautiful field of daffodils. The speaker is transfixed by the daffodils seemingly waving, fluttering, and dancing along the waterside. Albeit, the lake’s waves moved as fervently, but the beauty of daffodils outdid with flying colors. The poet feels immensely gleeful and chirpy at this mesmerizing natural sight. Amongst the company of flowers, he remains transfixed at those daffodils wavering with full vigor. Oblivious to the poet is the fact that this wondrous scenery of daffodils brings the poet immense blithe and joy when he’s in a tense mood or perplexed for that matter. His heart breaths a new life and gives him exponential happiness at sight worth a thousand words.

Analysis of the Poem :-

Structure and Form :-

The poem is composed of four stanzas of six lines each. It is an adherent to the quatrain-couplet rhyme scheme, A-B-A-B-C-C. Every line conforms to iambic tetrameter. The poem ‘Daffodils’ works within the a-b-a-b-c-c rhyme scheme as it uses consistent rhyming to invoke nature at each stanza’s end. Moreover, it helps in creating imagery skillfully as the poet originally intended. The poem flows akin to a planned song in a rhythmic structure. Consonance and alliteration are used to create rhymes.

This poem is written from the first-person point of view. Therefore it is an ideal example of a lyric poem. The poetic persona is none other than Wordsworth himself. This piece contains a regular meter. There are eight syllables per line, and the stress falls on the second syllable of each foot. There are four iambs in each line. Thus the poem is in iambic tetrameter. 

Symbols :-

The poem begins with a symbolic reference to the cloud. It is wandering and lonely. The poetic persona is the embodiment of such a cloud. Hence, it symbolizes being lonely and thoughtless. This state is achieved when one is free from mundane thoughts.

The most important symbol of this piece is the daffodils. The narcissistic description of the flower seems to be alluding to the Greek myth. Apart from that, the daffodil acts as a symbol of rejuvenation and pure joy. Wordsworth becomes the means through which the flowers express their vibrance. In his pensive mood, they become a means for the poet’s self-reflection.

Figurative Language and Poetic Devices :-

Wordsworth makes use of several literary devices in ‘I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud.’ These include but are not limited to similes, hyperboles, personification, and allusion. Similes are also used since the poet alludes to an aimless cloud as he takes a casual stroll. Moreover, daffodils are compared to star clusters in Milky Way to explicate the magnitude of daffodils fluttering freely beside the lake. At times, hyperbole is used to explicate the immensity of the situation. The allusion of daffodils to stars spread across the Milky Way is one such instance. Furthermore, the daffodils are even made anthropomorphous to create a human portrayal of Mother Nature in this instance.

Moreover, the poet has also used reverse personifications, equating humans to clouds and daffodils to humans with constant movement. Using this clever tactic, the poet brings people closer to nature, becoming a hallmark of William Wordsworth’s most basic yet effective methods for relating readers with nature, appreciating its pristine glory. Daffodils celebrate the beauty of nature and its purity, along with the bliss of solitude. He deems his solitude as an asset and inspires him to live a meaningful life.

Wordsworth makes use of imagery figuratively to display his feelings and emotions after encountering the daffodils. Firstly, the image of the cloud describes the poet’s mental state, and the images that appear after that vividly portray the flowers. These images, in most cases, are visual, and some have auditory effects (For example, “Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.”) associated with them.

Historical Context  :-

Hailed as the champion of the Romantic Movement in the early 19th century, William Wordsworth dwelled in the scenic Lake District (United Kingdom), far from the madding crowd. Its roots can be traced back to Dorothy Wordsworth’s journal, in which she reminisces a casual stroll with his brother in 1802, where they came across beautiful daffodils. The poem was composed within the time period of 1804-1807 and subsequently published in 1807, with a revised version published in 1815. The poem is considered a masterpiece of Romantic Era poetry steeped in natural imagery. Walking along Glencoyne Bay, the siblings stumbled across beautiful daffodils along the bay. As the sister’s journal recalls, the daffodils seemed immensely beautiful from a far-off view. It was indeed a magnificent sight.

Themes of the Poem :-

Throughout ‘I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud,’ Wordsworth engages with themes of nature, memory, and spirituality. These three are tied together as the speaker, Wordsworth himself, moves through a beautiful landscape. He takes pleasure in the sight of the daffodils and revives his spirit in nature. At the same time, Wordsworth explores the theme of memory, as he does in other works such as ‘Tintern Abbey.’ The flowers are there to comfort him in real-time and as a memory from the past.

Conclusion :-

Also, it has a message to praise the beauty of nature. One who is close to nature and enjoys in its company never feel depressed or lonely. Nature is the greatest gift or blessing to mankind. It has the power to heal our miseries and make us lively again.