Prayer Before Birth

overview

This poem is intended to look displeasing and was written to show the reader the atrocities of war. The poem entails the fear of children through the viewpoint of a foetus, sharing the vulnerability of children praying against disorder. The poem also protests war, expressing a strong hatred for it, and that there is so much evil in modern society.

key themes

Fear, Innocence, Societal flaws, Freedom, Control

language

• Semantic field of theatre suggests ideas of obligation

• Assonance 'like thistledown hither and thither' Metaphors of death turn to a weightless thistledown

• Repetition 'i am not yet born' Relates religious refrain

• Passive voice 'when they think me' Sense of control is inverted

• Imperative Shapes poem to be urgent

form and structure

-The poem is in free verse which creates a flowing conversational tone echoing the speakers urgent prayer

Short stanzas- the poem is broken into short fragmented stances that mirror the fragmented thoughts of the speaker

The repetition of the word pray emphasises the intensity of the speakers plea urging divine intervention

Enjambment reflects the continuity and unbroken nature of the speakers play adding to the sense of urgency

Rhetorical questions reflect anxiety and a desire for answers to the uncertainties of life

tone

the speaker begins in a vulnerable pleading town filled with a sense of fear about the future  2 I'm not yet born oh hear me". The tone intensifies into a desperate fair as the speaker praised to avoid the dangers of life " let not the blood sucking bat or the rat." at the end the speakers tone becomes darker and filled with helplessness as they continue to plead protection against the cruel world " let them not make me a stone"

imagery

• Birth imagery - " keep me from the wicked" creates images of the fragility and innocence of a child coming into the world

• Violent imagery-" fury" and" grief" in the palm evoke harsh destructive forces threatening the child's safety

• Natural imagery-there are images of natural forces such as "storm" or " earth" emphasising the uncontrollable threatening nature of the world