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Prayer Before Birth - Louis MacNeice - Coggle Diagram
Prayer Before Birth - Louis MacNeice
Form and Structure
Dramatic monologue
irregular structure
free verse - 8 regular stanzas
blank verse - lack of strict structure conveys chaos and instibility
each stanza begins with "I am not yet born" - mimicking a litany or prayer
Tone
Pleading
Fearful
Urgent
Themes
Violence and war: mention of bloodshed and betrayal reflects the poems WWII context
Loss of identity : child fees becoming inhuman, dehumanised by conformist pressure
Fear of world
Innocence vs corruption: unbron speaker is terrified of being tainted by a morally bankrupt society
Control and Power: fear of being manipulated by the authority, porperganda or ideology
Techniques
Repetition - "I am not yet born" - empahsise helplessness and desperate pleas
Dystopian Imagery : vivid depictions of horrors like "bloodsucking bat" "clubfooted ghoul" - evoke fear
Personification - "Wise lies" - evil forces like war and propaganda are given monstrous, human-like features
alliteration: reinforces urgency and rhythm e.g "dragoon me into a lethal automation"
Tone: pleading, prophetic and lalarmed: increasingly intense
Comaprison
War Photographer - fear of corrupted world - impact of violence on innocence, human suffering
Blessing - contrast of scarcity and abundance - contact of spiritual purity and suffering: reaction to deprivation
If - both reflect on the qualities needed to survive life
key things to remember:
"prayer before birth" - hopes and dreams
"club footed ghoul" - associate issue at birth / disability
dramatic monologue - fictional speaker
"wise lies" - oxymoron internal rhyme
antithesis - " I am not yet born; provide me" - praying / asking
Summary:
Dramatic monologue voiced by an unborn child pleading for protection from the evils and horror of the world they are about to be born into. the speaker foresees the ways in which innocence could be corrupted and autonomy stolen by political, social and moral dangers
key ideas:
futility of innocence in a corrupt world: even before birth, the child anticipates conatmination
loss of free will: unbron voice begs not to be controlled, dehumanised or silenced
critique of modernity and war: warns of mechanised violence and blind obedience
moral responsibility: warning to adults of impact on future generations