Prayer Before Birth Poem by Louis Macneice
Prayer Before Birth
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, trees 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 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
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.
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Our Identity is influenced by a combination of genetics and environment, it impacts us and shapes us to be what we are, what I like about this is that Mr Macneice is feeling the conundrum of being something that he is not entirely comfortable with, he exists but is not alive as an entity of his own will but as an impulse of the greater world. He is trying to be a man without being compromised by the greater social order. At least thats how I interpret it, either way it’s a wonderful modern poem that says what it wants and can be read with thoughtful understanding. Regards
I first read this poem many years ago. It has stayed with me ever since (as all the best poems do) and I believe it has influenced my personal philosophy. I think that people have much more influence on other people, other creatures, the world, than many of us would like to believe. We all affect those around us just by being on earth. As a novice poet myself, I hope that someday my words may have a profound effect on at least one person. Surely that makes anyone's life worthwhile?
What an awesome write! The baby is the most innocent person in the world.This baby may grow up to become a good man or a bad man.The society makes him what he becomes.
In summary, "Prayer Before Birth" serves as a condemnation of the state of humanity during the mid-20th century, emphasizing the need for protection from the world's evils and a longing for purity and freedom
One of the best and most touching poem I hve ever read. It reaches down deep into our humanity and inhumanity. So moving, I cried. Great poems do that to me.
So depressing, with all its beautiful expression! This struggle is the struggle of humanity, no getting away from it.
Wow.. as a mother and as a child, one who has lost both my mother and an unborn child, this really touched me in a sense that humanity is fit for non of those things. Not fit for my mother, not fit for my child nor fit for me
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
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12/4/2024 12:05:30 AM # 1.0.0
Still my favourite poem from when I first read it as a teenager 35 years ago. It is as relevant now - if not more so - than when it was first written in 1944. Check out more of MacNeice's stuff - it's very modern in thought, imagery and words. Bagpipe Music is another famous one.