--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: PRAYER BEFORE BIRTH I am not yet born; O…" description: "\"“PRAYER BEFORE BIRTH I am not yet born; O hear me. Let not the bloodsucking bat or the rat or the stoat or the club-footed ghoul come near me. I am not..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c7/louis-macniece-110550_birth_prayer-before-birth-i-am-not-yet-born-o_1004239.jpg" --- # PRAYER BEFORE BIRTH I am not yet born; O hear me. Let not… ![“PRAYER BEFORE BIRTH I am not yet born; O hear me. Let not the bloodsucking bat or the rat or the stoat or the club-footed ghoul come near me. I am not yet born; console me. I fear that the human race may with tall walls wall me, with strong drugs dope me, with wise lies lure me, on black racks…” quote by Louis Macniece](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c7/louis-macniece-110550_birth_prayer-before-birth-i-am-not-yet-born-o_1004239.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c7/louis-macniece-110550_birth_prayer-before-birth-i-am-not-yet-born-o_1004239.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c7/louis-macniece-110550_birth_prayer-before-birth-i-am-not-yet-born-o_1004239.jpg) > ““PRAYER BEFORE BIRTH I am not yet born; O hear me. Let not the bloodsucking bat or the rat or the stoat or the club-footed ghoul come near me. I am not yet born; console me. I fear that the human race may with tall walls wall me, with strong drugs dope me, with wise lies lure me, on black racks rack me, in blood-baths roll me. I am not yet born; provide me With water to dandle me, grass to grow for me, trees to talk to me, sky to sing to me, birds and a white light in the back of my mind to guide me. I am not yet born; forgive me For the sins that in me the world shall commit, my words when they speak me, my thoughts when they think me, my treason engendered by traitors beyond me, my life when they murder by means of my hands, my death when they live me. I am not yet born; rehearse me In the parts I must play and the cues I must take when old men lecture me, bureaucrats hector me, mountains frown at me, lovers laugh at me, the white waves call me to folly and the desert calls me to doom and the beggar refuses my gift and my children curse me. I am not yet born; O hear me, Let not the man who is beast or who thinks he is God come near me. I am not yet born; O fill me With strength against those who would freeze my humanity, would dragoon me into a lethal automaton, would make me a cog in a machine, a thing with one face, a thing, and against all those who would dissipate my entirety, would blow me like thistledown hither and thither or hither and thither like water held in the hands would spill me. Let them not make me a stone and let them not spill me. Otherwise kill me.”” [Louis Macniece](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-macniece/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A desperate plea for protection, guidance, and forgiveness before birth, fearing humanity’s cruelty and loss of humanity. **In simple terms:** A prayer for safety and humanity before being born. Key Takeaway Seek inner peace and protect humanity’s dignity. Themes Existence Fear Spirituality Humanity Protection Mood reflective somber Type prayer reflection When to use this quote - Birth planning - Counseling - Meditation retreats - Human rights activism - Environmental stewardship Key Concepts Theology Existential philosophy Psychology of anxiety Questions to Reflect On - What does humanity mean to you? - How can you act to preserve human dignity? A Different Perspective Prayer may not change external forces. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Birth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/birth/) [Born Forgive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/born-forgive-2138307/) [God Come](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/god-come/) [Human race](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-race/) [Old men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/old-men/) [Prayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prayer/) [Prayer Birth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prayer-birth-1876720/) [Thinks God](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinks-god-496306/) [White light](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/white-light/) ## Related quotes > [“Time flies, knells call, life passes, so hear my prayer. Birth is nothing but death begun, so hear my prayer. 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It thinks God has made the world- that space and time, heat and cold, and all the colors…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/for-christianity-is-a-fighting-religion-it-thinks-god-has-made-the/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [We try to evade the question of existence with property, prestige, power, possession, production, fun, and, ultimately, by trying to forget that we- that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/we-try-to-evade-the-question-of-existence-with-property-prestige/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [Part of me suspects that I'm a loser, and the other part of me thinks I'm God Almighty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lennon/part-of-me-suspects-that-i-m-a-loser-and-the-other-part-of-me-thinks/) [John Lennon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lennon/) > [ Man thinks, God directs. \[Lat., Homo cogitat, Deu indicat.\] ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alcuin/man-thinks-god-directs-lat-homo-cogitat-deu-indicat/) [Alcuin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alcuin/) > [“The first fruit of love is the musing of the mind on God. 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Let not the bloodsucking bat or the rat or the stoat or the club-footed ghoul come near me. I am not yet born; console me. I fear that the human race may with tall walls wall me, with strong drugs dope me, with wise lies lure me, on black racks rack me, in blood-baths roll me. I am not yet born; provide me With water to dandle me, grass to grow for me, trees to talk to me, sky to sing to me, birds and a white light in the back of my mind to guide me. I am not yet born; forgive me For the sins that in me the world shall commit, my words when they speak me, my thoughts when they think me, my treason engendered by traitors beyond me, my life when they murder by means of my hands, my death when they live me. 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