Compare "Sonnet 116" and "Prayer Before Birth."

These two poems are not obviously comparable. "Before Birth," by Louise MacNeice, is spoken from the perspective of a yet-to-be-born baby and is about the horrors of the world which the baby worries about being born into. The poem was published in 1944, during World War 2, and reflects the horrors of that war. On the other hand, Shakespeare's "Sonnet 116," first published in 1609, is about how love should be absolute and unchangeable, as opposed to relative and dependent upon circumstances.
Both poems might be read as reflections on the nature of love. In "Before Birth," the speaker pleads with perhaps its mother, or perhaps the world in general, to love and protect it against the worst aspects of the world. The speaker asks that the mother, or the world, "hear me . . . console me . . . provide me . . . forgive me." She is, in other words, asking to be loved, which encompasses being heard and listened to, as well as being consoled, provided for, and forgiven. In "Sonnet 116," the speaker describes love, metaphorically, as "the star to every wand'ring bark." This is likely a reference to the northern star, which always seems to be in the same place in the sky and which sailors in the northern hemisphere used to use as a reference point for navigation. The metaphor implies that love is constant and that love offers guidance. Later in the poem, the speaker asserts that "love alters not with his brief hours and weeks," enforcing the point that love is constant and dependable.
Stylistically, both poems are built upon metaphorical images. As well as the northern star metaphor noted above, "Sonnet 116" metaphorically describes the troubles that one might endure in life as "tempests" which love can guide one through. Shakespeare also describes those who may be lost without love as "wand'ring bark(s)," implying that a person without love is like a boat lost upon a vast ocean. In "Before Birth," MacNiece uses a series of metaphorical images to describe the fears that she has and that she wants someone's love to protect her against. For example, she describes the "tall walls" that she worries "the human race" may try to confine her between, which could be a reference to the prejudices which the human race draws upon to divide itself. This would have been an especially relevant concern in 1944. MacNiece also worries that life may turn her into "a cog in a machine" or, in other words, a person stripped of her individuality in order to better fit in. This concern is reminiscent of an image from Charlie Chaplin's 1936 movie, Modern Times, in which Chaplin's character is drawn into a vast machine and pulled along a system of interlocking cogs. Clearly, this fear of being reduced to but another metaphorical cog in the machine was a prevalent concern of the time.
Another possible point of comparison is that both poems end with something like an ultimatum. In "Before Birth," the speaker says that either she is protected against "them," meaning those in life who would turn her into a cog or confine her between walls, or else she should be killed. Likewise, in "Sonnet 116," Shakespeare declares at the end of the poem that either he is right about love, or else everything he has written must be dismissed. The fact that both poems end with ultimatums points to how certain each speaker is about their main proposition. In "Before Birth," the speaker is adamant that life will not be worth living if she doesn't have someone to love her and protect her against its worst aspects, and in "Sonnet 116," the speaker is convinced beyond doubt that love really is absolute, constant, and unchanging.
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