“Let them not make me a stone and let them not spill me/ Otherwise kill me”—Explain the concluding stanza of the poem ‘Prayer Before Birth’.

“Let them not make me a stone and let them not spill me

Otherwise kill me”

—Explain the concluding stanza of the poem ‘Prayer Before Birth’.

Answer: These lines occurs in the poem Prayer Before Birth by Macneice. This is the concluding pray of an unborn child to the God. The unborn child knows very well that he will have to face the perils, evils upon being born into the world. He knows that the world will not spare him from committing evil like murder, using slang words, treachery etc. He also knows that the world will make him a stone-hearted man with no sympathy, humanity and ultimately, they will destroy his life completely. He is very much fearful about it. So, the unborn child prays to God for protection from this to happen with him. He wants to live. He hates war and hates to become the casualty of war. At last the child tells the God to kill him if God can not able to keep the child’s request. To the child, it is better to die early before being killed in the war. Through this, the poet expresses his anti-war mentality.