• Join over 1.2 million students every month
  • Accelerate your learning by 29%
  • Unlimited access from just £6.99 per month

In the poem Prayer before Birth, the poet Louise MacNeice has drawn a picture of a corrupt, hateful and devilish world. Comment on the poetic devices and linguistic techniques he has used to create this image.

Extracts from this document...

Introduction

'Prayer Before Birth' - Analysis In the poem 'Prayer before Birth', the poet Louise MacNeice has drawn a picture of a corrupt, hateful and devilish world. Comment on the poetic devices and linguistic techniques he has used to create this image. Support your views with substantial evidence. In prayer before birth, Louis MacNeice uses a baby to convey his thoughts and emotions on the current state of the world. MacNeice wishes to emphasize how harsh and ruthless the world is, and how it can strip away a young unborn baby of its innocence. The poem, 'Prayer Before Birth' is a dramatic monologue giving voice to a child in the womb, as yet unspoiled by the ways of the world he is about to enter, and a clean slate on which the world will write his fate. The poem is set out like an appeal, a cry for help. The title itself, using the word "prayer" shows that the baby is trying to get help for something which troubles him- which raises a question; why would a soon-to-be born fetus that has its whole life strewn in front of it be worrying about 'sins' that he hasn't even gotten the chance to commit. ...read more.

Middle

It also suggests the atrocious scene that war has created, also referring to the corruption in the community. Moreover, MacNeice uses repetition to further convey his worry from the hateful world. The most frequently repeated words are 'I' and 'me' suggesting a fear of his own mankind. He also constantly repeats the statement 'O Hear Me' And 'O fill Me', suggesting how the amount off channeled hate from the world is too intense for an innocent baby to handle-almost as if letting out a cry or plea for help. The statement 'I am not yet born' is also repeated quite frequently, showing the innocence of the child as contrasted to the devilish world outside. The technique gives the child's prayer more power as it emphasizes his emotion and brings his fears to life. Another effective device used by MacNeice is contrast where he creates an image of nature, when asking God to provide him with 'grass to grow' and 'trees to talk to [him]'. These images are related to the positive side of the world, bringing out more clearly the piling up corruption surrounding humans. ...read more.

Conclusion

The world seems to be infested with vermin and the poet tries to open our eyes to the wicked reality. MacNeice controls the pace with great charm through punctuation, especially at the end of the poem. The penultimate stanza is one long breathless sentence and the repetition of words and sounds show the agitation of the speaker. At this point, the reader has had the catalogue of possible evils given to him - and now the child prays to be taught how to cope with the worst that the world may throw at him or he will end up a man totally undone, completely lost. Overall, by the end of the poem, we are filled with disdain and disapproval of the state our world has come to. Louis MacNeice has brought us face to face with the undeniable reality through the eyes of an unborn baby. Moreover, as the child is not yet part of the world, the truth is delivered without bias and we come to grips with the actual state of things. The poet has suitably used language to depict a world of corruption and to open our eyes to the horrific truth we shield ourselves from. ...read more.

The above preview is unformatted text

This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Other Poets section.

Found what you're looking for?

  • Start learning 29% faster today
  • 150,000+ documents available
  • Just £6.99 a month

or


Not the one? Search for your essay title...
  • Join over 1.2 million students every month
  • Accelerate your learning by 29%
  • Unlimited access from just £6.99 per month

See related essaysSee related essays

Related GCSE Other Poets essays

  1. Carole Satymurtis I Shall Paint my Nails Red is a wonderful poem which I ...

    This is another line which shows the multi tasking of women. It also suggests that so much as looking at her red nails is entertaining and, I would infer, satisfying. Because the red nails are with her at all times and they represent so much for her, it is a

  2. Hollow by Elissa Soave tells a painful story of a woman who is suffering ...

    the mother as well because we realise it must be impossibly hard for her to watch her daughter in such a state. The next line puts the main character's feelings about being thin into perspective, "The ultimate compliment, yet it's never enough".

  1. Stevie Smith's poem "The River God" - Analysis

    I think that when the rhyme scheme changes are when the river bends or turns a corner. Occasionally the rhythm is jaunty and further gives across the idea of the river being playful and humorous. When the rhyme scheme changes towards the end it could be the water hitting the banking or the river is separating off into separate streams.

  2. Thomas Kinsella - A personal response Thomas Kinsella is a poet that is ...

    "When I sheltered.... years were to come". This poem is very sweet and you can tell that Kinsella misses d**k on a regular basis and has never forgotten him.

  1. Explore how the poet presents his thoughts and feelings about what is happening in ...

    In continuation of his frustration, the poet accelerates the situation by explicitly stating the problem, giving the real picture of the situation: ?And all the other atolls That sink beneath the seas, The millions who will suffer from Drought, famine and disease.? in order to clearly show the audience the

  2. Analysis of "The Mother" by Gwendolyn Brooks

    This poem is wrote from the heart, and as a reader it pulls at each and every emotion, especially if you are a women. The poem is about a ?mother ?who grieves for her aborted children, yet this woman never actually ever felt the pain of childbirth, she never touched 10 fingers and toes, and she never caressed their hair.

  1. Word choice, juxtaposition, contrast, irony and imagery are just some of the techniques that ...

    tourists "passed the ruined temple", this metaphor is used to show that the Christians the body is the tabrenade of the soul. It should be treated with respect. The "temple" is ruined and is not seen to be respected by those who are more interested in the church and it's works of art rather than mankind.

  2. Analysis of "End of shift" by Desmond Sim.

    This imagery is similar to the 'twenty-four hour termite queen' as the unfriendliness of the organisation the persona works for is emphasised. However in this instance, his workplace becomes a 'monster' , much like a beast rather than a pest, which suggests that the persona's working environment is hostile and

  • Over 160,000 pieces
    of student written work
  • Annotated by
    experienced teachers
  • Ideas and feedback to
    improve your own work