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, tree 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 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 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
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.
 Theme
• The poet wants individuality
• The poet wants freedom
 Structure
• Irregular verse
• The poem consists of eight stanzas of unequal
length
• There is no definite rhyme scheme
• The poet achieves the effect he aims for by
varying the length of the lines.
• He uses caesura (a break in a line or a pause in
a line)
• He uses run on lines
• He constantly repeats “I”, “me” and “my”
 Stanza 1

• He states he has not been born

• The baby begs God to hear his prayer.
• God must not let the vampire bat, the stoat
or the ghoul come near him because he is
not yet born
 Vampire bat

• A South American bat

which sucks the blood of
other animals
Stoat

• A small brown furry animal that eats other

animals
 Clubfooted
• Having a badly shaped foot twisted out of its
position from birth.
 Ghoul

• In the stories of
Eastern countries
a ghoul is a spirit
that takes bodies
from the grave and
eats them.
Line 2
Let not the bloodsucking bat or the rat or the stoat or the
club-footed ghoul come near me.

The baby first asks to be

protected against those
creatures, real or imaginary,
that are terrifying to young
children
Alliteration: bloodsucking bat
Assonance: bat or the rat
 Stanza 2

• The unborn child prays that God may give

comfort to him during his whole future life.
Line 4
I am not yet born, CONSOLE me.
I FEAR that the HUMAN RACE…

The unborn baby is afraid of being dominated by his fellow-man.

He is afraid of losing his individuality.
Line 5
I fear that the human race may with tall walls wall me

He fears that his fellow man would restrict

him in high walls of society, taking away his
freedom.
Wall (v): if you wall a person you build a wall
around him
Restricting – control, prevent, keep back,
limit.
Line 6
With strong drugs dope me, with wise lies lure me,

Drug peddlers may try to addict him to powerful

drugs. If you are addicted to a drug, you have lost
your freedom.

Criminals may lie to him to get him involved with

unlawful activities. If involved in crime, he is not free
anymore.
Line 7
On black racks rack me, in blood-baths roll me

Rack: torture device used

during the middle ages
He is afraid he will be
tortured or persecuted by
his fellow man.

Blood-baths: wars
He is afraid he will be forced to take up
weapons against an enemy.
 Stanza 3

The child is not yet born, yet he begs

God to enable him to enjoy the beauty
of nature in his childhood
Water to dandle in
Dandle: bob up and down

Grass to grow for them

Trees to talk to him

Birds
Line 10
…and a WHITE LIGHT
In the BACK OF MY MIND to GUIDE me,

METAPHOR: This metaphor describes the conscience of the

unborn child.
His conscience will guide him through life.
His CONSCIENCE must be LIKE an INNER LIGHT that shows him
the way
 Stanza 4

Although still unborn, the infant

begs God to forgive him for the
sins the world will commit in him
Line 14-17
My words when they speak me
The world will speak unacceptable words through her
My thoughts when they speak me
The infant will think the thoughts the world has placed in his
head
My treason engendered by traitors beyond me
The infant will not commit treason, but will be manipulated by
others to commit treason
My life when they murder by means of my hands
God must forgive him for ever being born when they murder their
enemies in time of war by means of his hands.
My death when they live me
God must forgive him for his death when the evil
done through him by the world will live on after his
death
 Line 12
…forgive me for the sins that IN ME
The WORLD SHALL COMMIT…
MY WORDS when THEY SPEAK ME…

METAPHOR
The WORLD and THEY to which the child refers is
the UNKNOWN, IMPERSONAL EVIL FORCE.
That is man’s inborn sinful nature that
continuously tries to drag man down by putting
wicked words in his mouth.
 STANZA 5

The unborn baby realizes his

dependence on God.
 Line 18-19
… rehearse me
In the parts I must play and the cues I must take when

He begs God to rehearse him the various

roles he will have to play during his
adulthood.
He wants to learn the cues he will have to
follow in different situations
Cue: signal to speak, reminder to speak
He will need to know what to do or say when old men lecture
him
When bureaucrats bully him and abuse their power
He will need to know what to do when mountains seem to
frown at him.
Frown: warning to keep away
When young people in love laugh at him
Note that love and laugh sounds the same
When the white surf seem to call him to swim in the sea and
be drowned.
When the barren desert invites him to enter it and die of thirst
When a needy beggar refuses to accept a present of money
from him
When his own children curse him
 Line 18-19
“…REHEARSE me in the PARTS I must PLAY
And the CUES I must take WHEN

Imagery of THEATRE is used: he begs God to prepare him like

you would prepare an actor for a performance
He must be REHEARSED and he wants to receive CUES from
God.
 STANZA 6
Let not the MAN who is BEAST or
who THINKS he is God…

Man who is beast: man who behaves like an animal

Man who thinks he is God: the Antichrist.
The unborn child does not want to face this enemy of God.
 STANZA 7
The unborn baby pleads for mental and morals strength to:

Withstand those
who want to
freeze his
humanity
Humanity:
human kindness
To withstand those
who want to turn
him into a robot
like creature
Dragoon: use force
to turn him into one
who only follows
commands
To withstand those who want to turn him into a
tiny cog in a big machine
 To withstand
those who would
turn him into a
thing with only
one expression
on his face.
Servility: behave
like a slave
He begs God to protect him against all those in authority that
would DISSIPATE his whole being.
Dissipate: use up foolishly, waste.
He wants protection against those who would
manipulate him completely.
Metaphor: He will be like a thistledown blow around
by the wind.
He wants protection against those who would spill his life as if it
is water.
His life is compared with water running through the fingers of
cupped hands.
 Line 28-29
…FILL ME WITH STRENGTH against those who would FREEZE MY
HUMANITY…

He wants to be
protected
against the
domineering
bureaucracy.
They turn the
people of a
nation into
mindless robots.
The people have
no ability to
think for
themselves.
 Lines 30-32
“…DRAGOON me
into a LETHAL
AUTOMATON..
…MAKE me a COG
in a MACHINE…
…A THING with
ONE FACE, a
THING…

METAPHORS:
Like a lethal automaton
Like a cog in a machine
Like a thing with one face
Line 34 & 36
“…BLOW me LIKE THISTLEDOWN…”
LIKE WATER held in the hands would SPILL me…”

These SIMILES illustrate

the poet’s bitterness at
modern man not being
allowed to live his own
life.
 STANZA 8

God must not turn him into a stone (petrify him)

If God cannot protect him against these faceless
enemies he wants to be born dead
If you are a stone, you feel nothing.