A Prayer for My Daughter

Poetry | William Butler Yeats
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Write a short note on Maud Gonne.

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Write a short note on Maud Gonne.

Maud Gonne (1866–1953) was an Irish nationalist and political activist. She worked for Ireland’s freedom. She was an important woman in the life of the poet W. B. Yeats (1865-1939). She was a very beautiful woman. Yeats once said that she had a “beautiful face” and a strong spirit. Her beauty and personality left a powerful impression on him. She became the inspiration behind many of Yeats’s poems.

W. B. Yeats loved her deeply. However, his love was unrequited (একতরফা). He proposed to her many times, but she always refuse

d. Later, Maud Gonne married another nationalist, Major John MacBride. However, Gonne’s marriage was unhappy, and they were separated.

Many poems of Yeats, like “A Prayer for My Daughter,” “When You Are Old,” and “No Second Troy”, are connected to his feelings for her. In “A Prayer for My Daughter,” Yeats alludes to Maud Gonne to say that too much beauty, anger, and pride can make someone unhappy. He had seen this in Maud Gonne’s life. Her beauty and strong opinions brought her problems in love and in her personal life.

To Yeats, Maud Gonne was both a dream and a heartbreak. She shaped his poetry, his thoughts on love, beauty, and even politics. She is one of the most important figures in understanding Yeats’s poetry.

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William Butler Yeats
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