The poet keeps walking and praying for the young child and as he does so he is in a … “Prayer for My Daughter” is a beautiful personal poem by William Butler Yeats reflecting his gloomy mood and a fear of a disturbing future. Yeats's mother, Susan Pollexfen, came from a wealthy family - the Pollexfens had a prosperous milling and shipping business. It was written during the World War I, thus it reflects the post-war agitation that was prevalent during that time. Peacedreamer - A father angry with his daughter who is 'under ban/Of all good men and women' ie disapproved of by all respectable people, because she is being connected with a man that has the 'worst' of all reputations. His mother, formerly Susan Pollexfen, was the daughter of a prosperous merchant in Sligo, western Ireland. An introduction and occasion of the poem A prayer for my daughter is an intensely personal poem. Written in 1919, a few weeks after Yeats daughter Anne was born, this poem speaks about the anxiety felt for the well-being of his daughter as also about the anxiety shared by all fathers all over the world torn by war and greed. This 1919 poem was written for Anne, Yeats’s daughter with Georgie Hyde Lees, whom Yeats married after his last marriage proposal to Maud Gonne was rejected in 1916. William Butler Yeats’s father, John Butler Yeats, was a barrister who eventually became a portrait painter. A storm is raging with great fury outside his residence. She responds to this anger by saying his hair is beautiful, which might indicate she has no concern for what … Both parents claimed kinship with various Anglo-Irish Protestant families. His work was greatly influenced by the heritage and politics of Ireland. Though … Yeats in editions noted for grace and simplicity. Yeats, Lily and ElizabethIrish artisans, printers and publishers whose Cuala Press produced books by such writers as J.M. The poem was composed in 1919 and appeared in 1921. He is so angry he 'strikes the board' ie bangs the table. eNotes critical analyses help you gain a deeper understanding of A Prayer for My Daughter … In the poem, Yeats watches his sleeping daughter and thinks of all the things he wishes for her: beauty (but not too much beauty), and a personality that is free from hatred: A list of poems by W. B. Yeats William Butler Yeats, widely considered one of the greatest poets of the English language, received the 1923 Nobel Prize for Literature. Source for information on Yeats, Lily and Elizabeth: Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia dictionary. William Butler Yeats (1865-1939) was born in Dublin into an Irish Protestant family. A great gloom is on Yeats’ mind and is consumed with anxiety as to how to protect his child from the tide of hard times ahead. His father, John Butler Yeats, a clergyman's son, was a lawyer turned to an Irish Pre-Raphaelite painter. A Prayer for My Daughter Questions and Answers - Discover the eNotes.com community of teachers, mentors and students just like you that can answer any … Discussion of themes and motifs in William Butler Yeats' A Prayer for My Daughter. Synge and their brother W.B. A Prayer for My Daughter by William Butler Yeats opens with an image of the newborn child sleeping in a cradle. The motif of attempts to protect the child in the poem is rather neglected in Marjorie Perloff's fascinating paper "Between Hatred and Desire: Sexuality and Subterfuge in 'A Prayer for My Daughter,'" Yeats Annual 7 (1990): 29−50.