Analysis of A Prayer For My Son
William Butler Yeats 1865 (Sandymount) – 1939 (Menton)
BID a strong ghost stand at the head
That my Michael may sleep sound,
Nor cry, nor turn in the bed
Till his morning meal come round;
And may departing twilight keep
All dread afar till morning's back.
That his mother may not lack
Her fill of sleep.
Bid the ghost have sword in fist:
Some there are, for I avow
Such devilish things exist,
Who have planned his murder, for they know
Of some most haughty deed or thought
That waits upon his future days,
And would through hatred of the bays
Bring that to nought.
Though You can fashion everything
From nothing every day, and teach
The morning stats to sing,
You have lacked articulate speech
To tell Your simplest want, and known,
Wailing upon a woman's knee,
All of that worst ignominy
Of flesh and bone;
And when through all the town there ran
The servants of Your enemy,
A woman and a man,
Unless the Holy Writings lie,
Hurried through the smooth and rough
And through the fertile and waste,
protecting, till the danger past,
With human love.
Scheme | ABABCDDCEFEGHIIAJKJKLMMLNMNOPQRS |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 10111101 1110111 1111001 1110111 0101011 11011101 1110111 0111 1011101 1111101 110101 111110111 11110111 11011101 01110101 1111 1111010 110100101 010111 1110101 11110101 10010101 1111100 1101 01110111 01011100 010001 01010101 1010101 0101001 01010101 1101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 969 |
Words | 184 |
Sentences | 5 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 32 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 25 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 785 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 182 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 28, 2023
- 55 sec read
- 120 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"A Prayer For My Son" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/39263/a-prayer-for-my-son>.
Discuss this William Butler Yeats poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In