Prayer For The Children Of Longing: Quotes and Analysis

Question 1

Great ___from the far _______ forest
Still ___ with the ___ of the forest
Here at the heart of ______
Here at the heart of the ____

Answer 1

Great tree from the far northern forest
Still rich with the sap of the forest
Here at the heart of winter
Here at the heart of the city

Question 2

Here at the heart of _______
Here at the heart of the ____

Answer 2

Here at the heart of winter
Here at the heart of the city

Question 3

Grant us the _____ of ice
The ______ of snow
The ____ memory of ____
Grant us the forest’s _______
The snow’s _______ quiet

Answer 3

Grant us the clarity of ice
The comfort of snow
The cool memory of trees
Grant us the forest’s silence
The snow’s breathless quiet

Question 4

For one moment to ______
The _____, the ____, the ____ on the door
The _____ in its track
The ____ in the back

Answer 4

For one moment to freeze
The scream, the siren, the knock on the door
The needle in its track
The knife in the back

Question 5

In that ______ let us hear
The song of the ______ of longing
In that silence let us _____
The _____ of the children of longing

Answer 5

In that silence let us hear
The song of the children of longing
In that silence let us catch
The breath of the children of longing

Question 6

The ____ of their ______ through the city streets
The streets that ______ them
That brought them to their _____
The streets that couldn’t _____ them
That ________ them in alleyways
The streets that ___ their _____
That led them _____, out of reach of our ______

Answer 6

The echo of their voices through the city streets
The streets that defeated them
That brought them to their knees
The streets that couldn’t shelter them
That spellbound them in alleyways
The streets that blew their minds
That led them astray, out of reach of our saving

Question 7

The streets that gave them _____ and dreams
That _______ them everything
That _______ nothing
The streets that broke their _____
The streets we ______ them home to

Answer 7

The streets that gave them visions and dreams
That promised them everything
That delivered nothing
The streets that broke their backs
The streets we brought them home to

Question 8

Let their names be the ____ through the _______
Let their names be the ____ of the _____
Let their names be the _______ ______

Answer 8

Let their names be the wind through the branches
Let their names be the song of the river
Let their names be the holiest prayers

Question 9

Under the ______, under the _______
In the ____ of this tree

Answer 9

Under the starlight, under the moonlight
In the light of this tree

Question 10

Here at the heart of _____
Here at the heart of the ____

Answer 10

Here at the heart of winter
Here at the heart of the city

Question 11

A poem commissioned by the community of Dublin’s north inner city for the lighting of the Christmas tree in Buckingham Street, to remember their children who died from drug use.

Answer 11

A poem commissioned by the community of Dublin’s north inner city for the lighting of the Christmas tree in Buckingham Street, to remember their children who died from drug use.

Question 12

What is the relevance of the repetition present here?
Great tree from the far northern forest
Still rich with the sap of the forest
Here at the heart of winter
Here at the heart of the city

Answer 12

The stanza contains repetition, which creates emphasis.

Question 13

“Great tree from the far northern forest
Still rich with the sap of the forest
Here at the heart of winter
Here at the heart of the city”
What does the heart represent?

Answer 13

The ‘heart’ is an accessible symbol that represents the centre, the essence, of something

Question 14

“Great tree from the far northern forest
Still rich with the sap of the forest
Here at the heart of winter
Here at the heart of the city”
What does winter represent?

Answer 14

The reference to ‘winter’ creates images of a harsh environment.

Question 15

“Great tree from the far northern forest
Still rich with the sap of the forest
Here at the heart of winter
Here at the heart of the city”
What is the connection between ‘winter’ and ‘city’?

Answer 15

The connection of ‘winter’ with ‘city’ conveysthe fact that the city is also a harsh environment. So, the message is clear – it is as challenging to survive in a city as it is in a forest in winter

Question 16

What tone does the 2nd stanza begin on?

Answer 16

The 2nd stanza begins with the tone of a prayer

Question 17

What does the poet mean by ‘The comfort of snow…’?

Answer 17

The metaphor is easy to understand. When we feel pain, we want it to end. When we put something cold on the pain, it becomes numb. The poet is saying that this community needs relief from its suffering.
It may also be a reference to the relief drugs give the user.

Question 18

How is the 2nd stanza very fluent (poetic techniques)?

Answer 18

There is a beautiful fluency to the stanza due to the poet’s use of both sibilance and the alliteration of the hard ‘c’ which creates a clear, steady beat.

Question 19

In what stanza does the tone change?

Answer 19

the 3rd stanza

Question 20

What happens in the 3rd stanza?

Answer 20

This is the stanza in which the reality of life in a community plagued by drug addiction is evoked, and the effect is disturbing.

Question 21

What poetic techniques are present here?
The scream, the siren, the knock on the door
The needle in its track
The knife in the back

Answer 21

anaphora of ‘the’ and onomatopoeia which stimulates the aural sense.
the sibilance and the rhyming and the monosyllabic language all combine to communicate a startling reality

Question 22

The scream, the siren, the knock on the door
The needle in its track
The knife in the back

There are three ‘sound’ nouns present here. What do they stimulate and what do they convey?

Answer 22

The list of three ‘sound’ nouns is very striking and the onomatopoeia
to stimulates the aural sense. This conveys the atmosphere of the place being described.

Question 23

Break down the anaphora in the 5th stanza

Answer 23

The 5th stanza features anaphora, a characteristic feature of this poet’s work. It consists of twelve lines, and seven begin with the word ‘The’ and five with the word That’. Of those twelve lines, three begin with the words ‘The streets’.

Question 24

describe the language and tone in the 5th stanza.

Answer 24

The language is stark and the tone is a combination of pathos and
outrage

Question 25

“The streets that couldn’t shelter them
That spellbound them in alleyways”
Explain the meaning of each line here.

Answer 25

The poet feels that the society has a duty to protect young people, but that these young people have been let down.
The 2nd line creates a memorable metaphor. The drug addicts are seen under the power of the drug, as if they are under a spell.
The image captures the lifeless, zombie-like behaviour of the drug addict.
the image of them forlorn (lonely abandoned) in alleyways.

Question 26

What is the poetic technique in the 7th and 8th lines of the 5th stanza and what does it reflect?

Answer 26

The 7th and 8th lines are an exercise in juxtaposition as the poet reflects on the fact that that these are the streets
‘That promised them everything
That delivered nothing…’

Question 27

What poetic technique does the final section of the poem begin with and what is its effect?

Answer 27

The final section of the poem begins with another anaphora that feels like a religious exhortation and certainly has rhetorical power:
‘Let their names be the wind through the branches
Let their names be the song of the river
Let their names be the holiest prayers…’

Question 28

Describe the tone of the last few lines and how it should be read

Answer 28

The lines are comforting and must be read in the context of the fact that they are being listened to by the families of those young people who have been lost on a tidal wave of drugs. It feels as though the poet is speaking on behalf of the families and, again, as is the case with ‘Cora, Auntie’ and ‘Death of a Field’, the tone is elegiac

Question 29

Why does the poem end with the repetition of ‘light’?

Answer 29

This is a poem which mourns loss and looks for hope. That is why the poem
ends with the repetition of the word ‘light’:
‘Under the starlight, under the moonlight
In the light of this tree’

Question 29

Why does the poem end with the repetition of ‘light’?

Answer 29

This is a poem which mourns loss and looks for hope. That is why the poem
ends with the repetition of the word ‘light’:
‘Under the starlight, under the moonlight
In the light of this tree’