Prayer Before Birth

• This is a summary of the poem "Prayer Before Birth" by Lewis MacNeice
• Poem


  • Written as a dramatic monologue
  • Presented as a powerful incantation and prayer by an unborn fetus
• Title: "Prayer Before Birth"


  Emphasises that the speaker is an unborn fetus
• The speaker is an unborn fetus who wants to find a better world than the current one
• The opening declarative sentence "I am not yet born"


  Shows the speaker is an unborn fetus in the mother's womb
• Negative creatures the fetus is afraid of

  • Blood-sucking bat
  • Rat
  • Stoat
  • Club-footed girl
• The fetus's fear of these negative creatures

  Shown through the use of alliteration and a frenzied, incantatory tone
• Repetition of "I am not yet born"

  Acts as a refrain, emphasising the fetus's unborn state
• The fetus's request for comfort and protection


  Shown through the verb "console me"
• The fetus's fear of humanity's capacity for evil

  Expressed through references to "tall walls", "strong drugs", "wise lies", and "bloodbaths"
• Idyllic imagery


  • References to water, grass, trees, sky, birds, and a "white light"
  • Suggests the fetus's wish for a pure, natural childhood
• The fetus's awareness of the sins they may commit


  They ask for forgiveness in advance
• Anaphoric repetition of "I am not yet born"


  Emphasises the fetus's prayer-like incantation
• Metaphor of life as a play

  The fetus wants to "rehearse" the "parts" and "cues" they must take
• Characters the fetus fears will influence them

  • Old men
  • Bureaucrats
  • Mountains
  • Lovers
  • Beggars
  • Children
• The fetus's fear of being corrupted by tyrants and dictators

  They don't want to become a "lethal automaton" or "cog in a machine"
• Similes describing the fetus's fear of losing their individuality

  Being "blown like thistle down" or "like water held in their hands"
• The poem was written shortly after World War II, likely referencing the atrocities of Hitler and other dictatorships
• The fetus's final request

  If they cannot be protected from corruption, they would rather be "killed" (aborted)
• The poem triggers the reader to think deeply about the human capacity for both good and evil