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  • Prayer Before Birth Revision Q

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    Sheheli Anne Napthali.
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    The document contains discussion questions about the poem "Prayer Before Birth" by Louis MacNeice. [1] The speaker in the poem is an unborn child pleading with God. [2] The child seeks forgiveness for future sins not yet committed, protection from those who would turn him into "a lethal automaton," and consolation from the difficulties of being born during World War II. [3] The poem uses techniques like repetition and metaphor to convey the unborn child's fears and desires.

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    The document contains discussion questions about the poem "Prayer Before Birth" by Louis MacNeice. [1] The speaker in the poem is an unborn child pleading with God. [2] The child seeks forgiveness for future sins not yet committed, protection from those who would turn him into "a lethal automaton," and consolation from the difficulties of being born during World War II. [3] The poem uses techniques like repetition and metaphor to convey the unborn child's fears and desires.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    61 views2 pages

    Prayer Before Birth Revision Q

    Uploaded by

    Sheheli Anne Napthali.
    The document contains discussion questions about the poem "Prayer Before Birth" by Louis MacNeice. [1] The speaker in the poem is an unborn child pleading with God. [2] The child seeks forgiveness for future sins not yet committed, protection from those who would turn him into "a lethal automaton," and consolation from the difficulties of being born during World War II. [3] The poem uses techniques like repetition and metaphor to convey the unborn child's fears and desires.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
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    of 2

    Mrs.

    Sheheli Perera

    SCIENCE 2/ COMMERCE 2 - ENGLISH LITERATURE


    8
    (12.07.2022) [8.00 - 9.20]

    Prayer Before Birth


    (Louis MacNeice)

    1. Who is the speaker in ‘Prayer Before Birth?’

    2. What is the tone of the poem ‘Prayer Before Birth?’

    3. “I am not yet born; provide me

    With water do dandle me, grass to grow for me, tress to talk

    to me, sky to sing to me, birds and a white light

    in the back of my mind to guide me”

    i. What is that the speaker is seeking in these lines ?

    ii. Do you think the speaker is a lover of nature ?

    iii. What does the poet refer to as a white light ?

    4. “I am not yet born; forgive me

    For the sins that in me the world shall commit, my words

    when they speak to 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. For what does the speaker seek forgiveness ?

    ii. Why is the speaker so sure that he will commit sins ?

    Is it re ective of the world we live in ?

    5. “I am not yet born; O ll 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,………”

    fl
    fi
    i. What is the speaker’s plea in these lines ?

    ii. Whom does the speaker want to ght ?

    iii. Is it possible for the speaker to turn into a ‘lethal automaton’ or a cog in a
    machine’?

    6. “I am not yet born; console me” —Why does the unborn child demand consolation

    from God before birth ?

    7. What are the contextual clues that the poem was written during World War II?

    8. Name 4 poetic techniques used in the poem. Give examples.

    9. What is the not yet born child trying to say in the lines, “Let them not make me a

    stone and let them not spill me otherwise kill me”?

    10. Look at the poems ‘If’ and ‘Prayer Before Birth’ in the Poetry Booklet. These poems

    present di erent thoughts about life. With close reference to the poems, compare

    the ways in which each poet presents these thoughts and explain which poem you

    nd most e ective.

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