shanks, 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. OK. Let's start with the chauvinsim thing. Would he have wished these on his son? Not to be good-looking, because invaribaly (well really?) good looking people turn out to be dimbulbs?
Would he want him not to have opinions - because invariably (well really?) opinions lead to hatred?
Would he want him to be taken in by a gentle, decorous family?
I'm sorry, but it's a ghastly set of sentiments, and not one I'd wish on anybody's daughter, let alone my own. If she's going to be beautiful (which I wouldn't bother about - whether wishing for or against) so be it. More importantly for me - I'd wish for her to be intelligent. Independent. Indomitable. And intellectual. Also, I hope, to be loving and generous. If she doesn't find a welcoming decorous home, so much the better - let it be a Bohemian lifestyle - so long as she's happy. Let her be the most opinionated termagent since the delightful Katharine - as long as she's happy and finds love nevertheless. To wish for her not to be beautiful, to be docile, to be dependent upon some gracious family - these are amongst the worst curses I could imagine.
This is my opinion, of course - feel free to disagree - but the poem, whilst containing some beautiful passages, is not a piece whose sentiments I could agree with. (Damn, there was no infinitive to split in that last line - so you'll have to make do with the preposition at the end
.)
cheer
the sunshine warrior
