‘Prayer’ by Carol Ann Duffy beautifully talks about the importance of prayer in modern times. In today’s world, while men lose faith, the form of prayer, no matter how one prays, gives solace to their minds. Moreover, the reference to the worldly things in the poem refers to that one can pray at any time and anywhere. What’s most essential is the purity of conscience. However, the use of back to back to back images, some depicting soothing pictures, and some pleasing tones, helps the poet to bring home her ideas about prayer. The brevity of the poem is no doubt an implied reference to the shortness of prayer.
Summary
The poem begins with the speaker describing a moment in which one has run out of options. All the subjects of her poem are in this same space. They have nowhere to turn and have run out of faith to fall back on. She continues on to describe how the simplest things, a sound, sight or memory can bring one back to happier moments. These serve as remedies, as a prayer might have in the past, for dark and depressive moments.
The poem contains a number of different descriptions of these moments. They range from reconnecting with nature, and hearing a piano scale, to the sound of a mother calling her child.
By the end of the poem, the speaker has concluded her array of prayers by mentioning the BBC Shipping Forecast and how the regularity of its broadcast can bring one peace and induce calmness over times of stress.
Themes
‘Prayer’ by Carol Ann Duffy contains several themes. In this poem, the poet uses the themes of belief, faith, modernity, and spirituality. All the themes present in the poem are discussed from the modern perspective. Likewise, the theme of belief has a modern connotation. It isn’t about believing in God or any external being. The poem rather talks about believing in oneself in hard times. The theme of faith is an important aspect of the poem. The poet talks about how faith works in a person’s life. The simplest emotions bring one’s faith in humanity. Moreover, being a modern poem, it presents the theme of modernity. Here, the poet uses modern images that give one peace.
Apart from that, the reference to the radio programs at the end of the poem, which helps one keep peace of mind in daily life, is interesting. Last but not least, Duffy talks about a different kind of spirituality that goes beyond the conventional definition. Here, spirituality doesn’t refer to asceticism. It’s all about the simple dialogue between the soul and mind that is only possible if one has faith in himself.
Structure
‘Prayer’ by Carol Ann Duffy is a four-stanza poem which is divided into three sets of four lines and one set of two lines. The quatrains, or sets of four lines, follow a consistent rhyme scheme of cdcd efef, with the ending two-line couplet rhyming, gg. The poet has chosen this particular rhyme scheme to mimic the sing-song-like nature of actual prayer. Moreover, the poem is mostly composed of the iambic meter. There are some important variations in the poem. As an example, the first and the third lines of the first stanza begin with a spondee. There is another variation in the first line. The last foot of this line is hypermetrical.
Literary Devices
‘Prayer’ by Carol Ann Duffy consists of several literary devices. The poet uses enjambment and caesura for maintaining the rhythm and flow of the poem. The use of enjambment is present in the first three stanzas. There is a personification in the line, “a prayer/ utters itself.” Another personification is there in the last line of the first stanza. Moreover, “a sudden gift” is a metaphor. The poet also uses alliteration in the poem. As an example, “her head” and “her hands” contain the repetition of a similar sound in the juxtaposed words. However, in the second stanza, there is a synecdoche in the use of the word “youth”. In “Latin chanting” there is an allusion and onomatopoeia as well. Here, the poet refers to the Christian scriptures. In the last line of the poem, the poet uses asyndeton.
Prayer Analysis
Stanza One
Some days, although we cannot pray, a prayer
(…)
at the minims sung by a tree, a sudden gift.
In the first stanza of this piece, the speaker begins by describing a situation in which one feels stunted. This moment, and ones like it, are times that drive a person to prayer. The speaker specifically states though that this moment is so overwhelming that one “cannot pray.” Even the refuge from chaos, which prayer is considered by many, is inaccessible.
The speaker has yet to make clear what would have to be happening for a person to feel this way, at least within the context of this poem. That being said, it is quite easy to find these emotions within oneself while reading. All people, no matter where they’re from, have felt desperation and the inability to act.
In the following lines, the speaker describes what it is that happens next. A person, in this case, a woman, who has found themselves on the brink of emotional or perhaps even physical desperation, might hear something that allows them to “lift / [their] head from the sieve of [their] hands.” The speaker is describing a very familiar pose in which one rests their head in their hands and their fingers separate around their face, creating what she calls a “sieve.”
When this has happened, and the woman has heard the familiar sound, she lifts her head. She is hearing the “minims,” or half-notes, “sung by a tree.” This moment is a “gift,” one that lifts her spirits and reminds her of better times. The natural world has returned her to a more peaceful state of mind.
Stanza Two
Some nights, although we are faithless, the truth
(…)
in the distant Latin chanting of a train.
In the second stanza, the speaker continues to describe another stand-in for prayer. She understands that on “Some nights,” one is unable to believe or devote themselves to religion. One becomes “faithless.” In these instances, there are other outlets to relieve stress and pain. Prayer can take other forms, aside from traditional recitations and pleas.
In this particular instance, while one is feeling faithless, a “truth” is able to enter one’s heart. This is a revelation or the feeling of coming to terms with the reality of one’s situation. The pain one experiences are “familiar,” and that familiarity is comfort.
In the second half of this stanza, the speaker describes another person, a man, who is standing “stock-still.” He is recalling a sound from his youth and being transported back to a happier time. This moment places additional emphasis on the importance of simple actions, memories, and experiences. This person can hear his “youth” through the “Latin chanting of a train.” He has made a connection through the world around him.
Stanza Three
Pray for us now. Grade 1 piano scales
(…)
a child’s name as though they named their loss.
In the final quatrain of this poem the speaker moves to include herself within the body of people who suffer from moments of desperation. She asks that the readers, or any listening to the poem, “Pray for us now,” referring to all of those sufferings.
In the final lines of this section, she brings up two more memories that might take someone away from the pressures of the world and bring up more pleasant thoughts of the past. She speaks of the sounds of “Grade 1 piano scales,” that a “lodger” is about to hear while “looking out across” the town he is staying in. Once more, this featured person is being transported to his past.
In the next memory, the speaker recalls the sound of someone calling their own child and the sounds that make up the child’s name, helping to console another for “their loss.”
Stanza Four
Darkness outside. Inside, the radio’s prayer –
Rockall. Malin. Dogger. Finisterre.
In the final short two-line stanza the speaker brings all her memories of various experiences and alternatives to prayer, to a conclusion. She describes how there might be “Darkness outside,” and one’s outlook might be dimmed by the events of life, but “Inside” something else’s going on.
There is always the “radio’s prayer” to fall back on, she states. The following lines bring this reference farther as she names off a shipping forecast for the areas around the British Isles. This is a piece of BBC radio programming that is quite familiar to those who reside in Great Britain and is providing the reader with an amount of comfort and dependability in a desperate moment.
Similar Poetry
Like ‘Prayer’, one of the best poems written by Carol Ann Duffy, here is a list of a few poems that talk about the importance of prayer and having faith in oneself.
- Faith Healing by Philip Larkin – In this poem, Philip Larkin describes a procession of women who pray with a faith healer.
- Dover Beach by Matthew Arnold – In this poem, Matthew Arnold laments the loss of true Christian faith in England during the 19th century.
- Savior by Maya Angelou – In this poem, Maya Angelou, one of the best African-American poets, talks about religion and faith.
- Memory by Christina Rossetti – In this poem by Christina Rossetti, the speaker is in a mental crisis with the thoughts of worldly joys and eternal bliss.
You can read about 10 of the Best Poems about Hope here.
