'Prayer Before Birth' (Edexcel IGCSE English Literature)

Prayer Before Birth

This revision guide to Louis MacNeice’s poem ‘Prayer Before Birth’ from the Pearson Edexcel International GCSE English Anthology (part 3: unit 1, section B) includes:

• Overview: a line-by-line breakdown of the poem

• Form, structure and language: an exploration of the techniques and poetic choices that MacNeice has used

• Themes: an exploration of the themes and ideas in the poem

• Comparing poems: suggestions on which poems to compare it to

Overview

To answer an essay question on any poem, you must understand what it is about. This section includes:

• A summary of the poem

• A “translation” of the poem, section-by-section

• A commentary of each of these sections, outlining MacNeice’s intention and message

A summary of ‘Prayer Before Birth’ 

‘Prayer Before Birth’ was written by Louis MacNeice during World War II and published in 1944. The speaker, an unborn child, prays for a future that is safe from the horrors of the world and the poem outlines the child’s fears, both rational and irrational. The speaker suggests that if their prayer cannot be answered, they do not wish to be born at all. 

‘Prayer Before Birth’ analysis

Line 1-3

Translation

• The speaker is an unborn child who fears being born

MacNeice’s intention

• The speaker is afraid of being born and pleads to an unknown entity:

  • The listener could be God or it could be humanity itself

• The speaker then begins to list their childlike fears:

  • The use of the phrases “bloodsucking bat” and creatures such as “rat” and “ghoul” echo children’s nightmares 

  • By emphasising these fears, the poet foregrounds the speaker’s innocence 

Line 4-7

Translation

• The poet focuses on the human race’s capacity for evil 

MacNeice’s intention

• The speaker’s fears are more serious and real than those outlined in the previous stanza:

  • They allude to imprisonment, drugging, deception, torture and mass murder 

• This stanza highlights the helplessness that the speaker feels:

  • It also emphasises how a child has no control 

• This stanza uses asyndeton by listing a number of evil scenarios without using any conjunctions:

  • This changes the tone of the poem as the reader moves from childlike fears in stanza one to fears that are more rooted in reality 

Lines 8-11

Translation

• The speaker asks to be provided for and nurtured by nature

MacNeice’s intention

• This stanza focuses on nature and the speaker seems more hopeful and positive in tone as they seek a harmonious and peaceful relationship with nature

  • The beauty of the natural world is contrasted with humanity’s depravity  

• The personification of the trees and skies highlights the speaker’s feeling that true power and protection lies with nature, not the destructive, corrupting human race

• The symbolism of a guiding “white light” underlines the speaker’s desire to be led by goodness and purity 

Lines 12-17

Translation

• The speaker asks for forgiveness from future sins

MacNeice’s intention

• The speaker seems to be implying that in a world full of corruption, sinning is inevitable and cannot be avoided

• The speaker could also be implying that a child is not born knowing how to sin but that society corrupts us over time:

  • The writer contrasts “they” and “me” to suggest that an external force, the society we are born into, pre-conditions a newborn child into thinking and behaving a certain way

• This stanza highlights the helplessness that the speaker feels about being born into a society that will inevitably everyone against their own will

Lines 18-24

Translation

• The speaker is asking for the knowledge and preparation necessary to live in a corrupt world

MacNeice’s intention

• The use of an extended metaphor of acting suggests that the speak must “rehearse” for a pre-destined role:

  • The speaker refers to the “parts I must play and the cues I must take” 

• The speaker then anticipates situations and incidents that they will encounter:

  • The negative images contrast the idyllic natural images from stanza three 

• This stanza highlights the speaker’s insecurities and panic:

  • The poet uses enjambment in this stanza to reflect the speaker’s panic and fear but also the erratic nature of life

  • The poet’s choice of line length and position (the layout of the poem with indented sentences) also achieves the same effect

Lines 25-27

Translation

• The speaker asks to be spared from those in positions of power

MacNeice’s intention

• The speaker wishes to avoid “the beast” which could represent corrupt leaders or the person “who thinks he is God”, a reference to people in positions of power or religious leaders

• It is worth noting that this stanza has the same rhyme as stanza one with “hear me” and “near me”:

  • This ties both stanzas together and re-emphasises the speaker’s desire and desperation to keep a distance from evil things

Lines 28-37

Translation

• The speaker asks for strength against others to maintain their own humanity

MacNeice’s intention

• This is the longest stanza of the poem and the use of enjambment is significant here:

  • It reflects the speaker’s desperation and fear of becoming a “cog in a machine”

• The metaphor of being a “cog” and “lethal automation” references the 20th century’s advancement of technology and industrialisation (including in warfare):

  • The use of “lethal” could suggest that the speaker fears losing their humanity 

  • The choice of the word “freeze” highlights the speaker’s fears of losing their individuality and free will

• The speaker outlines a fear of becoming a dehumanised “thing”:

  • The use of the caesura isolates the phrase, suggesting that a person is reduced to a mere object without their humanity 

• The speaker uses two similes to emphasise the speaker’s fears of losing themselves or being corrupted, like water being spilled from “hands” or being blown like “thistledown”

Lines 38-39

Translation

• If they are unable to escape this corrupting influence, the speaker would rather be killed before being born

MacNeice’s intention

• The final stanza is the shortest in the poem and contains a rhyming couplet but does not use the refrain from the previous stanzas:

  • The change in rhythm adds abruptness to the stanza

• The use of anaphora “let them not” emphasises the speaker’s fears of living a life that is full of threat and corruption

• The final metaphor echoes the speaker’s desire not to be spilled, re-emphasising the speaker’s fear of losing their identity

• The final line of the poem suggests that death would be preferable to a life of cruelty 

Form, structure and language

When you consider how Louis MacNeice uses form, structure and language, try to link your analysis to how he has presented his ideas and why he has made these choices in ‘Prayer Before Birth’. You need to think about how MacNeice’s language, structure and form contribute to the themes and messages in the poem. You will gain more marks if you focus on MacNeice’s themes than on individual poetic techniques. 

Form

The poem is a dramatic monologue that does not have a specific form but is broken down into eight stanzas of differing lengths.

Structure

The poem is eight stanzas long which vary in length with the final stanza being the shortest. 

Language

MacNeice makes use of language devices in ‘Prayer Before Birth’ to highlight how humanity’s desire for power and control leads to corruption and destruction.

Themes

All the poetry anthology questions in the exam encourage you to write an informed, personal response. Having a good understanding of the poem’s themes, main ideas, settings, situations and events will help you to write confidently in the exam. 

Context is not explicitly assessed in your exam but knowing about the influences on the poet can help you to understand the poem and its themes in greater depth. 

To help you do this, the section below has been divided into two main themes that MacNeice explores in 'Prayer Before Birth':

• Nature versus industrialisation 

• Power and free will

Nature vs Industrialisation

• Louis MacNeice was born in Ireland in 1907 and died in 1963:

  • He lived through both world wars: as a young boy during World War I and a man in World War II and this had a significant impact on his life

• ‘Prayer Before Birth’ was published in MacNeice’s volume entitled Springboard in 1944 and was written during World War II in 1943

• The poem presents readers with questions about modern life and offers a powerful critique of the role of industrialisation and modernisation in corrupting people’s humanity and robbing them of free will

• The poem’s speaker, who is an unborn child, asks for protection and strength to be able to endure the life that they are about to live:

  • While the majority of the poem presents the speaker’s fears, the stanza three also presents the speaker’s strong desire for a close connection with nature

• The poem also highlights the destructive nature of humanity due to industrialisation, technological advancements and global warfare:

  • The speaker contrasts the positive impact of nature to the negative effects of becoming “a cog in a machine” and “a thing” rather than having the ability to live life as an individual, free from the destructive influence of the modern world

• The poem also references being blown “like thistledown” which could indicate the speaker’s fragility and vulnerability:

  • It could also convey how nature itself is being corrupted by humanity

Power and free will

• The poem is structured like a prayer, with a refrain at the beginning of the first seven stanzas followed by a request

• The speaker is safe in the womb of their mother, but will soon be exposed to humanity and its evils:

  • The poem considers the idea that people, once born, may not have the free will or power to navigate through their own life

• The speaker proceeds to ask for protection from other more serious evils highlighting humanity’s inclination towards committing heinous crimes: 

  • The poem was written during World War Two, during which time terrible atrocities were being committed 

Comparing poems 

In the exam, you will be required to compare two poems from the anthology. This means that you must have a good knowledge of poetic form, content and meaning to be able to compare the poems effectively. You must be able to explore links and connections between texts which includes the poets’ use of language, form and structure. 

In ‘Prayer Before Birth’, MacNeice’’s main ideas are centred around power and free will so the following comparisons would be a good starting point:

• ‘Prayer Before Birth’ and ‘If–’

• ‘Prayer Before Birth’ and ‘Hide and Seek’

For each pair of poems, you will find:

• Comparison summary 

• Similarities and differences between the ideas presented in each poem

• Evidence and analysis of these similarities and differences

Comparison summary:

Both poems are about experiences in the world but they both offer very different perspectives. Kipling shows that, with the right qualities, a man has endless possibilities and can thrive. However, MacNeice in ‘Prayer Before Birth’ shows that life is challenging and cruel.

Similarities

Differences:

‘Prayer Before Birth’ and ‘Hide and Seek’

Comparison summary:

Both poems are written from the perspective of a child and are about cruelty at the hands of other people. ‘Prayer Before Birth’ is written from the perspective of an unborn child who fears being exposed to cruelty once born. ‘Hide and Seek’ is written from the perspective of a child who is hiding and is ultimately left alone and feels forgotten. 

Similarities

Differences