Written in 1919 and published in 1921 as part of Yeats' collection Micheal Robartesand the Dancer.
In the poem, a speaker (usually read as Yeats himself) prays about the type of woman he hopes his daughter will become and the kind of life he hopes she will have.
At its core, the poem expresses a father's heartfelt wishes for his newborn daughter.
In a larger sense, "A Prayer for my Daughter" is a rich, complex reflection on the joys and struggles of parenthood, Irish politics, and Yeats's own past.