eland. So, the poet’s fear for his daughter came from real events. Outside, the storm is raging, and he is walking for an hour and praying for his daughter.

“I have walked and prayed for this young child an hour.”

This image shows the poet's real fear. He is worried for his daughter’s future in a world full of violence and hatred. So, he prays for her.

Personal Experience about Beauty and Love: Yeats hopes his daughter will be beautiful, but not too beautiful. He believes that too much beauty can make a person proud and selfish. So, he wants simple beauty for her. He wants her to be the kind of person who wins love through kindness. These prayers actually come from Yeats’ real-life experience about beauty and love. Yeats had a long and painful love life with Maud Gonne, a beautiful Irish politician. But his love was one-sided. Maud Gonne was proud and angry. She hated Yeats. The poet calls this “intellectual hatred” because she was proud, and she always thought her opinion was right.

Yeats believes beauty without kindness can lead to unhappiness, just like Maud Gonne. He writes:

“Have I not seen the loveliest woman born…

Because of her opinionated mind

Barter that horn and every good.”

Here, by “the loveliest woman,” the poet is referring to Maud Gonne. He also says Gonne lost all her happiness because of her “opinionated mind.” It means that because of her anger, hatred, and obsession with politics, she wasted all her happiness. Here, Yeats is saying that Gonne married an angry politician, Major John MacBride, but the marriage did not last long. He compares her husband to “an old bellows full of angry wind.” So, again, Yeats brings his personal experience into the poem to pray for his daughter.

Tradition and Good Manners: Yeats valued tradition and good manners throughout his life. So, in this poem, he prays that his daughter will be married to a house where traditions and good manners are followed—

“And may her bridegroom bring her to a house

Where all's accustomed, ceremonious;”

He wants a loving marriage and a safe home for her. This prayer also comes from Yeats’s personal views. So, this is another autobiographical element.

Gregory’s Wood: We find another personal element when Yeats mentions “Gregory’s wood” in the opening stanza to describe the storm outside. Lady Gregory was the poet’s close friend.

A Father’s Personal Prayer: Most importantly, the whole poem is a father’s private prayer for his child. He talks about his own hopes, his own fears, and his own memories. This makes the poem deeply autobiographical.

In conclusion, “A Prayer for My Daughter” is rich with autobiographical elements. Yeats uses his personal fears, his memories of failed love, and his dream of a peaceful family life to shape this poem. Through these real-life feelings, Yeats creates a heartfelt prayer for his daughter.