حديث ترم ثاتي علمي 2ث [الأرشيف] - بوابة الثانوية العامة المصرية

محمد عبدالمنعم رضوان

27-04-2015, 12:36 PM

W. B. Yeats was born in Sandymount, Dublin in 1839 and belonged to a wealthy family. His poetry and writings were a display of his passion for mysticism and the Occult Sciences. Yeats was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1923, and the Nobel Committee said about him: "His poetry is an inspired poetry which is written in a highly artistic form which gives expression to the spirit of a whole nation." Yeats died in 1939 at the age of 73.
There were three main stations in Yeats' life:
1. London: was one of the founders of Rhymer's Club. He believed that the poet's language should be dreamy, evocative and ethereal; to think of a place people never think of going to.)
2. Sligo: got knowledge of the life of the peasantry and their folklore.
3. Dublin: He was affected by the currents of Irish nationalism and learned to see his poetry as a contribution to a rejuvenated Irish culture. (His poetry became a part of his Irish culture.)
A love story started between Yeats and Maud Gonne. He loved her so much and became obsessed with her; whenever he wrote a poem, she was his inspiration and was always at the back of his mind. However, he proposed to her 3 times but she refused to marry him and married another man, MacBride who is considered to be Yeats' enemy. When they got divorced, Yeats proposed to Gonne but she refused again to marry him. Then, he proposed to her daughter who also refused. After that, he married Georgiana Hyde Lees, a friend of Maud Gonne, who was 25 years old while he was 50 years old. She was ugly, but their marriage was a successful one. She helped him and he wrote his greatest poems 2 or 3 month after their marriage. They got a baby called Anne Butler Yeats. Yeats continued to know other women, and his wife knew that and sent him a letter saying: "People will know that you kept knowing more women, but I am proud that I helped you produce your best poetry."
A Prayer for My Daughter was composed in 1919 by William Butler Yeats for his newly born daughter, Anne, who was born in February 1919, 3 years after the revolution when the poet was 51. It is a personal poem; a father is worried about his daughter and prays for her. She is a baby sleeping outside the house where a storm is howling, and he wishes her many wishes. The poem rotates around two main axes: the first is Yeats' expression of his worries concerning his child's future and the influence of the modern world on his daughter when she grows up, and the second is his prayers and wishes for his new-born daughter. We can notice that every time he wishes her something, he compares her to one of the women he knew throughout his life. Sometimes, he compares her to her mother and sometimes to Maud Gonne. The poem can be also seen as a crystallization of the qualities of the ideal woman and how a man wants his wife to be.
1. Beauty:
The poet's 1st wish for his daughter is beauty. However, he does not want that kind of beauty that instigates others' jealousy or sensuous desires, and not that beauty which renders her arrogant, believing like other beautiful girls, that beauty in itself is a "sufficient end." This kind of beauty would make her lose "natural kindness" and "heart-revealing intimacy." As a result, she would not befriend people and, consequently, would live deserted and isolated forever.
4th stanza:
He cites from the Greek mythology two examples of women whose beauty was a curse not a bless, and prays for his daughter not to follow in their footsteps. The first woman is Helen of Troy who was married to a rich king, but she felt that her life is boring and, therefore, married another poor man, Paris. However, this man turned to be a "fool" and, consequently, she led a miserable life. Helen's beauty caused her harm, and therefore, he does not want his daughter to have such extraordinary beauty that harms her. The 2nd woman is Venus, goddess of beauty. Due to her excessive beauty, she became so arrogant that she abandoned her father. Without a father to guide her, she married the god of fire that was handicapped: "a bandy-legged smith for man." The poet comments on Venus' strange behavior using the well-known saying: "fine women eat a crazy salad with their meat." Then, in an ****ogy, the poet says that Venus thought her beauty to be like the "Horn of plenty" that never comes to an end. Here, the poet warns that if the women got fooled by their beauty, the horn of plenty would be undone.

2. Kindness:
5th stanza:
The poet expresses his 2nd wish which is kindness. He wants his daughter to have a kind heart and to learn that love of people is not granted as a gift, but it is earned by women who are not completely beautiful. The poet then mentions a fact that all women should know. He says that beauty attracts any man and makes him love the beautiful woman falsely thinking that he is also beloved in return. However, when he sees a kind woman, he cannot take his eyes. Critics say that this stanza represents Yeats' personal experience. Although he was deep in love with Maud Gonne, a woman of stunning beauty, and thought she loved him, once he met his kind wife, who is noticeably less beautiful than Gonne, he became devoted to her and forgot his love for Gonne.
7th stanza:
The poet says that he remembers the beautiful women he knew and how they did not prosper and were not successful. This is because their hearts were full of hatred and they did not have kind hearts. Here, we can notice that Yeats is referring to Maud Gonne. Therefore, he says that if the woman's heart does not contain any kind of hatred, the dangers of the outside world represented by the wind will not affect her, but if her heart is full of hatred, these dangers will affect her just like the wind that takes the linnet from the tree.
8th stanza:
Yeats is elaborating more on this idea saying that he does not wish his daughter not to have the worst kind of hatred which is the intellectual hatred; fanaticism, to hate the other's opinion, race, colour, etc. He wants her to know that there are no fixed opinions and that all opinions are open to discussion. Yeats refers to Maud Gonne and draws a wonderful image of her saying that she was born "out of the mouth of plenty's horn." He wants to say that she had a magical kind of beauty, but because of her intolerance and "opinionated mind," something torn that horn and she lost every good to an "old bellow" that produces angry, bad sounds.
9th stanza:
The poet elaborates more on the idea of hatred saying that if all hatred in the world is driven out of his daughter's mind, her soul will recover innocence of childhood and learn at last that it is self-delighted, tolerant, and peaceful, and will reach the conclusion that the happiest will is that of Allah. Even if faces scowl at her, every danger stands before her, she will still be happy and nothing will threaten her life.

Educated, intellectual mind
Yeats expresses his 3rd wish for his daughter; he wants her to have an educated, intellectual mind. The poet draws a very beautiful image as he wants his daughter to be like a flourishing tree. However, he does not want her to be like any tree but like a hidden tree, which reveals how he is very protective. He wants his daughter's thoughts to fly like a linnet, a small bird that produces sweet songs, and these thoughts should not have any business but travelling everywhere so that people can make use of them. The poet does not want his daughter to follow her wishes without any kind of wisdom. He wants her to be peaceful, not to quarrel with people and to live like a beautiful tree kept in a "perpetual place."

3. Get married
The poet's final wish for his daughter is to get married. He wants her to get married to a man who takes her to a house that respects traditions where hatred and arrogance cannot find a place. When a woman is brought up and lives in a place that respects customs and traditions, she will be innocent and beautiful. He says that traditions are the "horn of plenty" and customs are the "laurel tree."
This poem is very significant because it is a personal experience of a father who shows his love for his daughter. It is also important since it shows what men want to find in women. The poem is divided into ten stanzas, of eight lines each. The rhyme scheme is aabbcddc.

(1st & 2nd stanzas are not included)

A Prayer for my Daughter (detailed)
A Prayer for My Daughter was composed in 1919 by William Butler Yeats for his newly born daughter, Anne, who was born on February 1919, 3 years after the revolution when the poet was 51. It is a personal poem; a father is worried about his daughter and prays for her. She is a baby sleeping outside the house where a storm is howling, and he wishes her many wishes. The poem rotates around two main axes: the first is Yeats' expression of his worries concerning his child's future and the influence of the modern world on his daughter when she grows up, and the second is his prayers and wishes for his new-born daughter. We can notice that every time he wishes her something, he compares her to one of the women he knew throughout his life. Sometimes, he compares her to her mother and sometimes to Maud Gonne. The poem can be also seen as a crystallization of the qualities of the ideal woman and how a man wants his wife to be.
1st stanza:
Once more the storm is howling, and half hid
Under this cradle-hood and coverlid
My child sleeps on. There is no obstacle
But Gregory's wood and one bare hill
Whereby the haystack- and roof-levelling wind,
Bred on the Atlantic, can be stayed;
And for an hour I have walked and prayed
Because of the great gloom that is in my mind.

In the first stanza, we have the image of a child in a cradle sleeping quietly, coverlid, while the weather outside the house is extremely turbulent, with a fierce storm making very loud sounds. Here, we have very contradictory moods: quietness and storm which represents coldness and danger. These moods represent worry inside Yeats' mind as a father. He can protect her inside his hands, but outside, he cannot protect her.
"There is no obstacle…stayed": The poet is so afraid because the only obstacle that can stand in front of the storm is Gregory's wood and one bare hill which may not prevent the violent storm from reaching his innocent child. This violent wind that carries up the haystack and the roof, comes from the abysmal Atlantic Ocean.
"And for an hour…mind": He has been walking and praying for his daughter for an hour because he is sad and worried about the influence of the outside world on her.
2nd stanza:
I have walked and prayed for this young child an hour
And heard the sea-wind scream upon the tower,
And under the arches of the bridge, and scream
In the elms above the flooded stream;
Imagining in excited reverie
That the future years had come,
Dancing to a frenzied drum,
Out of the murderous innocence of the sea.

The poet is emphasizing his worries saying that he has been walking and praying for his daughter for an hour. Then, he gives a very beautiful image about the strength of the wind. He says that one can hear the scream of the wind from the tower and when it passes under the arches of the bridge and between the elms. The sound of the wind's "scream" is everywhere surrounding the house. The poet wants to say that the modern world is very dangerous on his daughter. Here, we can notice the effect of the 1st World War on the poet and the anxiety of this age through the poet's personal experience.
Then, the poet imagines that future years had come, and his daughter is grown up. He says that these years are not calm, and compares these years in a metaphor to a person dancing in a fearful way to a frenzied drum that is beating frantically. Then, he uses an oxymoron when he says that these years are mounting from the "murderous innocence of the sea." He gives the sea this description because when the sea is calm, it is innocent, but when it starts to show its anger, it can kill anyone.
3rd stanza:
May she be granted beauty and yet not
Beauty to make a stranger's eye distraught,
Or hers before a looking-glass, for such,
Being made beautiful overmuch,
Consider beauty a sufficient end,
Lose natural kindness and maybe
The heart-revealing intimacy
That chooses right, and never find a friend.

Starting from the third stanza, he lists his prayers and wishes for his young child. The poet expresses his 1st wish which is beauty, but not that kind of beauty that instigates others' jealousy or sensuous desires, and not that beauty which renders her arrogant, believing like other beautiful girls that beauty in itself is a sufficient end and that there is no need to education and good deeds. This kind of beauty would lose her natural kindness and heart-revealing intimacy. As a result, she would not befriend people and, consequently, would live deserted and isolated forever.
4th stanza:
Helen being chosen found life flat and dull
And later had much trouble from a fool,
While that great Queen, that rose out of the spray,
Being fatherless could have her way
Yet chose a bandy-leggd smith for man.
It's certain that fine women eat
A crazy salad with their meat
Whereby the Horn of Plenty is undone.
This stanza is an elaboration of his 1st wish. He cites from the Greek mythology two examples of women whose beauty was a curse not a bless, and prays for his daughter not to follow in their footsteps. The first woman is Helen of Troy who was married to a rich king, but she felt that her life is boring and, therefore, married another poor man, Paris. However, this man turned to be a fool and, consequently, she led a miserable life. Helen's beauty caused her harm, and therefore, he does not want his daughter to have such extraordinary beauty that harms her. The 2nd woman is Venus, goddess of beauty. This woman was fatherless and did not use her beauty in a good way. She married the god of fire that was handicapped: "a bandy-legged smith for a man." The poet comments on Venus' strange behavior using the well-known saying: "fine women eat crazy salad with their meat." Then, in an ****ogy, the poet says that Venus thought her beauty to be like the "Horn of plenty" that never comes to an end.
5th stanza:
In courtesy I'd have her chiefly learned;
Hearts are not had as a gift but hearts are earned
By those that are not entirely beautiful;
Yet many, that have played the fool
For beauty's very self, has charm made wise,
And many a poor man that has roved,
Loved and thought himself beloved,
From a glad kindness cannot take his eyes.

The poet expresses his 2nd wish which is kindness. He wants his daughter to have a kind heart and to learn that love of people is not granted as a gift, but it is earned by women who are not completely beautiful. The poet then mentions a fact that all women should know. He says that beauty attracts any man and makes him love the beautiful woman falsely thinking that he is also beloved in return. However, when he sees a kind woman, he cannot take his eyes. Critics say that this stanza represents yeats' personal experience. Although he was deep in love with Maud Gonne, a woman of stunning beauty, and thought she loved him, once he met his kind wife, who is noticeably less beautiful than Gonne, he became devoted to her and forgot his love for Gonne.
6th stanza:
May she become a flourishing hidden tree
That all her thoughts may like the linnet be,
And have no business but dispensing round
Their magnanimities of sound,
Nor but in merriment begin a chase,
Nor but in merriment a quarrel.
O may she live like some green laurel
Rooted in one dear perpetual place.

Yeats expresses his 3rd wish for his daughter; he wants her to have an educated, intellectual mind. The poet draws a very beautiful image as he wants his daughter to be like a flourishing tree. However, he does not want her to be like any tree but like a hidden tree, which reveals how he is very protective. He wants his daughter's thoughts to fly like a linnet, a small bird that produces sweet songs, and these thoughts should not have any business but travelling everywhere that people can make use of them. The poet does not want his daughter to follow her wishes without any kind of wisdom. He wants her to be peaceful, not to quarrel with people and to live like a beautiful tree kept in a perpetual place.
7th stanza:
My mind, because the minds that I have loved,
The sort of beauty that I have approved,
Prosper but little, has dried up of late,
Yet knows that to be choked with hate
May well be of all evil chances chief.
If there's no hatred in a mind
Assault and battery of the wind
Can never tear the linnet from the leaf.

The poet says that he remembers the beautiful women he knew and how they did not prosper and were not successful. This is because their hearts were full of hatred and they did not have kind hearts. Here, we can notice that Yeats is referring to Maud Gonne. Therefore, he says that if the woman's heart does not contain any kind of hatred, the dangers of the outside world represented by the wind will not affects her, but if her heart is full of hatred, these dangers will affect her just like the wind that takes the linnet from the tree.
8th stanza:
An intellectual hatred is the worst,
So let her think opinions are accursed.
Have I not seen the loveliest woman born
Out of the mouth of Plenty's horn,
Because of her opinionated mind
Barter that horn and every good
By quiet natures understood
For an old bellows full of angry wind?

Yeats is elaborating the same idea. He speaks again about Maud Gonne saying that the worst kind of hatred is the intellectual hatred; fanaticism, to hate the other's opinion, race, colour, etc. He wants her to know that there are no fixed opinions and that all opinions are open to discussion. Yeats refers to Maud Gonne and draws a wonderful image of her saying that she was born "out of the mouth of plenty's horn." He wants to say that she had a magical kind of beauty, but because of her intolerance, something torn that horn and she lost every good to an old bellow that produces angry, bad sounds.
9th stanza:
Considering that, all hatred driven hence,
The soul recovers radical innocence
And learns at last that it is self-delighting,
Self-appeasing, self-affrighting,
And that its own sweet will is Heaven's will;
She can, though every face should scowl
And every windy quarter howl
Or every bellows burst, be happy still
The poet elaborates more on the idea of hatred saying that if all hatred in the world is driven out of his daughter's mind, her soul will recover innocence of childhood and learn at last that it is self-delighted, tolerant, and peaceful, and will reach the conclusion that the happiest will is that of Allah. Even if faces scowl at her, every danger stands before her, she will still be happy and nothing will threaten her life.
10th stanza:
And may her bridegroom bring her to a house
Where all's accustomed, ceremonious;
For arrogance and hatred are the wares
Peddled in the thoroughfares.
How but in custom and in ceremony
Are innocence and beauty born?
Ceremony's a name for the rich horn,
And custom for the spreading laurel tree.

The poet's final wish for his daughter is to get married. He wants her to get married to a man who takes her to a house that respects traditions where hatred and arrogance cannot find a place. When a woman is brought up and lives in a place that respects customs and traditions, she will be innocent and beautiful. He says that traditions are the "horn of plenty" and customs are the "laurel tree."
This poem is very significant because it is a personal experience of a father who shows his love for his daughter. It is also important since it shows what men want to find in women. The poem is divided into ten stanzas, of eight lines each. The rhyme scheme is aabbcddc,
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