chauvinistic remarks about a woman's placeshanks, am I being peculiarly dense if I fail to see these in
Prayer for my daughter?
Yes, it's idealistic (say, wanting there to be no hatred at all in her mind) but on the other hand that's just a manifestation of a parent's love. Yeats wants her to have the best in life, and sees that wishing her, for instance, a legendary beauty, would not help. You could say it would be
more chauvinistic and shallow-minded for him just to wish her great beauty and intelligence, end of poem.
I kicked off with
An Irish Airman foresees his Death (see
http://www.bartleby.com/148/3.html) which I still think is stunning. No pretentious "I die for my country" stuff, just "a lonely impulse of delight".
I do agree with your opinions on the Yeats cult, though. It doesn't do anyone any favours to see them as more or less flawless, epic human beings. Especially so for poets. Yeats must have had loads of off days, and I think
Prayer for my daughter is a bit overblown at the same time as it captures a certain (primarily parental) feeling quite well.