Prayer Before Birth

written during second world war
1. war is small word but consequences are massive
work is colloquial/ironic/combines humour and treagedy
a plea from an unborn child to divine power
suggestes horrors he will encounter
he prays for strength
highlights of horrors by juxtaposition
horror to imagine a soldier as a baby
Form and structure
1. a prayer
2. repeated use of first person
3. imperatives to god
4. each stanza begins by describing speaker as an unborn child
  1. except last stanza
5. free verse
6. repetition of 'me'
  1. creates a rhythm
7. each stanza is 1 sentence
  1. except last stanza
    1. l. stanza sumarises poem
8. each stanza grows
  1. signifies development of baby in womb
Themes
1. effect of war
2. innocence
3. impact of other people
4. sense of despair
5. contrast of the wonders of the world
contrast in 3rd stanza
1. describes nature
2. links to prayer - a light to guide him
impression of powerlessness
1. people speak/think for him
  1. leads to world using him to commit murder
    1. reference to war
'who mad me a cog in a machine'
1. metaphor
2. represent army/war
3. powerlessness
'thistledown'
1. compares unborn child to soft feathery material
2. powerlessness
3. can be thrown around
4. can be blown in any direction
5. danger to reader too as the could be destroyed as part of the machine
alliteration
1. 'O'
2. echoes religious language
3. repetition creates sense of ceremony

Resource summary

	Created by 09BHampshire almost 10 years ago