It might seem quite strange to look for the image of an ideal womanin “A Prayer for my Daughter”. But Yeats would have wanted his daughterto lead such an ideal life, regardless of the circumstances in which shewas placed, for Europe at that time was on the verge of war. And so wecan easily surmise her future image would be that of an ideal woman.
Though we are likely to misunderstand that Maud Gonne was the idealbeautiful woman, the image which appears in the poem is not certainlythat of Maud Gonne. She appears to be a woman whose life was ruinedas a result of her outward appearance. Therefore, the poet prays for hisdaughter to be beautiful, but not too beautiful to distraught stranger’s eyeor too beautiful to become proud of her beauty in appearance itself.
Yeats emphasizes a good and kind heart. He found an example of thatin Olivia Shakespear. She seldom appears in Yeats’s poetry or prose, butin some letters we can find she played an important role in Yeats’s life.After her death, Yeats wrote to Dorothy Wellesley that she had been thecentre of his life in London for more than forty years. During those manyyears they enjoyed a close friendship.
Yeats’s wife, George Hyde Lees, was a good wife and it is very hard tothink of Yeats’s later poetry without her. After his marriage, he felt thathe was satisfied and at peace, for his wife was considerate andself-sacrificing. The good and kind heart of both his wife and OliviaShakespear has become an indispensable factor for his depiction of thisimage of an ideal woman.
Yeats believed Lady Gregory was like his mother, friend, sister andbrother. She became to Yeats an ideal aristocratic image. The poet explains her state in terms of a linnet, the Horn of Plenty and a hiddenlaurel tree, which mean kindness, wealth and custom respectively. Eventhough his daughter has an aristocratic attitude, she will lead acomfortable life, for she has a generous spirit which originated fromceremony and custom.
In conclusion, we can say that Yeats developed this image of an idealwoman from the persons he knew well. He desires that his daughter hassomewhat less beauty than Maud Gonne, such sincere and good heart ashis wife and Olivia Shakespear, and the wealthy and generous spirit ofLady Gregory. He has certainly produced a “Unity of Being” in this poem.