Then there follows a skillful description of the kind of
beauty that is not desirable in a woman – beauty that makes a stranger crazy or
that makes a woman exult at her reflection in the mirror. The poet prays that his daughter may have
beauty, but not excessive beauty. He
knows that too much beauty in a woman will land her in danger. He knows that fabulous beauty goes with an
empty mind. The poet makes suggestive
allusions to Helen who had "much trouble from a fool" and Venus who
chose "a bandy-legged smith" as her husband. From both these stories the poet draws a
realistic and at the same time entertaining moral:
It's certain that fine women eat
A crazy salad with their meat
Whereby the Horn of Plenty is undone.
So the poet wishes and prays that his daughter may be
granted moderate beauty.
Yeats's next prayer is that his daughter should grow up
like a laurel tree with linnets singing on its branches. The laurel tree represents luxuriant growth
and peace and harmony. While the birds
stand for joy. She should bring joy to
those around her just as the birds provide joy to people. The poet wants her daughter to become free from
hatred. The poet knows that intellectual
hatred is great evil and can make the mind hollow. The soul is the fountain of joy and peace and
so if she can attune her will to the will of God, she need not have any fear
about anything. As the radical innocence
of the soul is the highest form of spiritual development, Yeasts asks his
daughter to recover it. It is a gift
from heaven and no earthly temptations can subdue her.
Yeats's next wish is that his daughter should not become
a political fanatic. Fanaticism will
create hatred and ill will and a woman with these vices will become incapable of
using the gifts conferred on her. No
doubt, the poet is referring to Maud Gonne, the talented and beautiful lady
whom Yeats loved. She rejected him and
married John Macbride, another political fanatic. According to the poet, she wrecked her life
and caused misery to her friends and relatives.
It was vanity and hatred that threw her life into confusion. It is Yeats's wish that his daughter should
not devote herself to any impersonal cause, sacrificing all other values in
life.
Yeats prays that her daughter be endowed with courtesy
which he considers as the queen of all virtues.
Courteous behaviour can win over hearts.
Ceremoniousness is another quality that the poet wishes her daughter to
possess. According to him ceremony alone
will engender innocence and beauty. The
poet makes references to Maud Gonne in several places in the poem. This shows the poet's inordinate love foe
her. She rejected his love and chose to
dedicate herself to the cause of Irish Independence. Later though she married another political
fanatic, John Macbride, she did not have a happy married life. It is the poet's prayer that his daughter
should not have similar experiences.
The poem contains many heart-warming lines expressive of
affection, humanity, generosity, optimism, good cheer, amiability etc. Besides, we find several examples of the
felicity of word and phrase: "the murderous innocence of the sea",
"an old bellows full of angry wind", "rooted in one dear
perpetual place" etc. are examples.
We also get a bit of moralizing which has its own appeal: "an intellectual hatred is the
worst."
"Ceremony's s the name for the rich horn
And custom for the spreading laurel
tree."
"A prayer for my Daughter" is a poem full of
practical wisdom, moral philosophy and beauty.
