Louis MacNeice: Poems

Louis MacNeice: Poems Analysis

"Snow"

"Snow" takes a simple occurrence, such as sitting inside on a snowy day, and translates it into a metaphor of the variety of the world. The snow and roses have an emphasis put on them, likely due to how different they are. They show how two very different entities can exist in the same area, and how the whole world is just various things that can exist although they are different. However, the roses and snow are said to be separated by glass, and more, which may translate to racism in real life, as well as hate. The narrator is a voice supporting tolerance, and love. As a whole, "Snow" is a metaphor for racism and tolerance.

"Sunlight on the Garden"

"Sunlight on the Garden" is a poem with an interesting rhyme scheme; ABCBBD. This makes the poem interesting to read, with a smooth flow in the first four lines, and the pattern is seemingly broken in the last two lines, adding emphasis on the loss usually depicted in the latter lines. In the last stanza of the poem, however, the last two lines have an opposite effect, leaving the poem ending on a hopeful note. Ending the poem on the hopeful note added the theme "Don't cry when it's over; smile because it happened", essentially telling the reader to have hope and rejoice over the good memories, rather than focus on the pain of today, of which was emphasized earlier in the poem.

"Prayer Before Birth"

"Prayer Before Birth" is a criticism of society, with the poisons of the world dripping from each verse. The first stanza addresses superstition, that the child wishes to be protected from, showing the child's innocence and society's tradition of passing down lies to each generation. Stanzas 2, 4, and 5 show the deceit and betrayal humanity commonly participates in. Innocence pops up again in stanza 3, with the hope of a refuge from the evils of humanity. In the last two stanzas, individuality is emphasized, with death seemingly preferred by the unborn child.

Update this section!

You can help us out by revising, improving and updating this section.

Update this section

After you claim a section you’ll have 24 hours to send in a draft. An editor will review the submission and either publish your submission or provide feedback.

Cite this page