Prayer before Birth Louis Mac Neice (1907-1963)

I am not yet born; O hear me.

Let not the bloodsucking bat or the rat or the stoat or the club-footed ghoul come near me

I am not yet born, console me.

I fear that the human race may with tall walls wall me,

with strong drugs dope me, with wise lies lure me,

on black racks rack me, in blood-baths roll me.

I am not yet born: provide me

With water to dandle me, grass to grow for me, tree to talk

to me, sky to sing to me, birds and a white light

in the back of my mind to guide me.

I am not yet born: forgive me

For the sins that in me the world shall commit, my words

when they speak to me, my thoughts when they think me,

my treason engendered by traitors beyond me,

my life when they murder by means of my

hands, my death when they live me.

I am not yet born; rehearse me

In the parts I must play and the cues I must take when

old men lecture me, bureaucrats hector me, mountains

frown at me, lovers laugh at me, the white

waves call me to folly and the desert calls

me to doom and the beggar refuses

my gift and my children curse me.

I am not yet born; O hear me,

Let not the man who is beast or who thinks he is God

come near me

I am not yet born; O fill me

With strength against those who would freeze my

humanity, would dragoon me into a lethal automaton

would make me a cog in a machine, a thing with

one face, a thing, and against all those

who would dissipate my entirety, would

would blow me like thistledown hither and

thither or hither and thither

like water held in the

hands would spill me.

Let them not make me a stone and let them not spill me

Otherwise kill me.

Theme

• The poet wants individuality

• The poet wants freedom

Structure

• Irregular verse• The poem consists of eight stanzas of unequal

length• There is no definite rhyme scheme• The poet achieves the effect he aims for by

varying the length of the lines.• He uses caesura (a break in a line or a pause in

a line)• He uses run on lines• He constantly repeats “I”, “me” and “my”

Stanza 1

• He states he has not been born

• The baby begs God to hear his prayer.

• God must not let the vampire bat, the stoat or the ghoul come near him because he is not yet born

Vampire bat

• A South American bat which sucks the blood of other animals

Stoat

• A small brown furry animal that eats other animals

Clubfooted

• Having a badly shaped foot twisted out of its position from birth.

Ghoul

• In the stories of Eastern countries a ghoul is a spirit that takes bodies from the grave and eats them.

Line 2

Let not the bloodsucking bat or the rat or the stoat or the

club-footed ghoul come near me.

The baby first asks to be protected against those creatures, real or imaginary, that are terrifying to young children

Alliteration: bloodsucking bat

Assonance: bat or the rat

Stanza 2

• The unborn child prays that God may give comfort to him during his whole future life.

Line 4

I am not yet born, CONSOLE me.

I FEAR that the HUMAN RACE…

The unborn baby is afraid of being dominated by his fellow-man.

He is afraid of losing his individuality.

He fears that his fellow man would restrict him in high walls of society, taking away his freedom.Wall (v): if you wall a person you build a wall around himRestricting – control, prevent, keep back, limit.

Line 5

I fear that the human race may with tall walls wall me

Line 6

With strong drugs dope me, with wise lies lure me,

Drug peddlers may try to addict him to powerful drugs. If you are addicted to a drug, you have lost your freedom.

Criminals may lie to him to get him involved with unlawful activities. If involved in crime, he is not free anymore.

Line 7

On black racks rack me, in blood-baths roll me

Rack: torture device used during the middle ages

He is afraid he will be tortured or persecuted by his fellow man.

Blood-baths: wars

He is afraid he will be forced to take up weapons against an enemy.

Stanza 3

The child is not yet born, yet he begs God to enable him to enjoy the beauty

of nature in his childhood

Water to dandle in

Dandle: bob up and down

Grass to grow for them

Trees to talk to him

Birds

Line 10

…and a WHITE LIGHT

In the BACK OF MY MIND to GUIDE me,

METAPHOR: This metaphor describes the conscience of the unborn child.

His conscience will guide him through life.

His CONSCIENCE must be LIKE an INNER LIGHT that shows him the way

Stanza 4

Although still unborn, the infant begs God to forgive him for the sins the world will commit in him

Line 14-17

My words when they speak me

The world will speak unacceptable words through her

My thoughts when they speak me

The infant will think the thoughts the world has placed in his head

My treason engendered by traitors beyond me

The infant will not commit treason, but will be manipulated by others to commit treason

My life when they murder by means of my handsGod must forgive him for ever being born when they murder their enemies in time of war by means of his hands.

My death when they live meGod must forgive him for his death when the evil done through him by the world will live on after his death

Line 12

…forgive me for the sins that IN ME

The WORLD SHALL COMMIT…

MY WORDS when THEY SPEAK ME…

METAPHOR

The WORLD and THEY to which the child refers is the UNKNOWN, IMPERSONAL EVIL FORCE.

That is man’s inborn sinful nature that continuously tries to drag man down by putting wicked words in his mouth.

STANZA 5

The unborn baby realizes his dependence on God.

He begs God to rehearse him the various roles he will have to play during his

adulthood.

He wants to learn the cues he will have to follow in different situations

Cue: signal to speak, reminder to speak

Line 18-19

… rehearse me

In the parts I must play and the cues I must take when

He will need to know what to do or say when old men lecture him

When bureaucrats bully him and abuse their power

He will need to know what to do when mountains seem to frown at him.

Frown: warning to keep away

When young people in love laugh at him

Note that love and laugh sounds the same

When the white surf seem to call him to swim in the sea and be drowned.

When the barren desert invites him to enter it and die of thirst

When a needy beggar refuses to accept a present of money from him

When his own children curse him

Line 18-19

“…REHEARSE me in the PARTS I must PLAY

And the CUES I must take WHEN

Imagery of THEATRE is used: he begs God to prepare him like you would prepare an actor for a performance

He must be REHEARSED and he wants to receive CUES from God.

STANZA 6Let not the MAN who is BEAST or

who THINKS he is God…

Man who is beast: man who behaves like an animal

Man who thinks he is God: the Antichrist.

The unborn child does not want to face this enemy of God.

STANZA 7The unborn baby pleads for mental and morals strength to:

Withstand those who want to

freeze his humanity

Humanity: human kindness

To withstand those who want to turn him into a robot

like creature

Dragoon: use force to turn him into one

who only follows commands

To withstand those who want to turn him into a tiny cog in a big machine

To withstand those who would

turn him into a thing with only one expression

on his face.

Servility: behave like a slave

He begs God to protect him against all those in authority that would DISSIPATE his whole being.

Dissipate: use up foolishly, waste.

He wants protection against those who would manipulate him completely.

Metaphor: He will be like a thistledown blow around by the wind.

He wants protection against those who would spill his life as if it is water.

His life is compared with water running through the fingers of cupped hands.

Line 28-29…FILL ME WITH STRENGTH against those who would FREEZE MY HUMANITY…

He wants to be protected

against the domineering bureaucracy.

They turn the people of a nation into

mindless robots.

The people have no ability to

think for themselves.

Lines 30-32

“…DRAGOON me into a LETHAL AUTOMATON..

…MAKE me a COG in a MACHINE…

…A THING with ONE FACE, a

THING…

METAPHORS:

Like a lethal automaton

Like a cog in a machine

Like a thing with one face

Line 34 & 36

“…BLOW me LIKE THISTLEDOWN…”

LIKE WATER held in the hands would SPILL me…”

These SIMILES illustrate the poet’s bitterness at modern man not being allowed to live his own life.

STANZA 8

God must not turn him into a stone (petrify him)

If God cannot protect him against these faceless enemies he wants to be born dead

If you are a stone, you feel nothing.