The Speaker (Symbol)
The speaker reiterates throughout the poem that they are not yet born, while at the same time imagining the bleak fate they are sure to face once they are born. In this way, the speaker becomes a symbol of future generations that will be affected by the present destruction and corruption rampant in society.
Bats and Ghouls (Symbols)
In the early lines of the poem, the speaker asks for protection from bats, rats, stoats (a type of weasel), and ghouls. These fears help underscore the speaker's innocence and childlike perception, but they also serve as symbols for society's evils that are not quite so obvious. The speaker quickly abandons this innocent facade, suggesting that their desire for protection from bats and ghouls was really a fear of a corrupt world.
Terror (Motif)
One of the central motifs in the poem revolves around the speaker's own fear for the life they imagine they will have on earth. From the very beginning of the poem, the speaker is petrified of being born, imagining that they will be ridiculed, used, and even tortured throughout their life. While these images are examples of hyperbole or exaggeration, they help underscore the poem's central critique of twentieth-century society as that which deprives people of freedom and autonomy.
Stone and Water (Symbols)
The speaker notes at the end of the poem that one's fate on earth is to either become a stone or to become like water spilled from somebody else's hands. These images are symbols of apathy and passivity, respectively, and they both suggest that life on earth has been corrupted to aid those in power.
God (Symbol)
Readers might be surprised to see how little God figures into a poem about life and death. Indeed, the speaker mentions God only once, in the lines, "Let not the man who is beast or thinks he is God / come near me" (26-27). The relative absence of God in the poem helps further cast the speaker's bleak outlook, as God is usually a symbol of salvation despite pain and suffering on earth. Furthermore, God becomes a symbol of man's corruption in the poem, as the speaker argues that those in power think themselves God-like beings.
