The Second Coming (poem)

A man named Yeats wrote a poem. He was from Ireland. He wrote it in 1919. The world was in a hard time then. Wars were happening. Many people were sick with a flu.

He wrote about a big change. He used a shape called a gyre. He thought history moves in circles. One era ends and a new one starts. This can be a scary time.

The poem talks about a wild beast. It moves toward a place called Bethlehem. People still love this poem today. It is very famous.

William Butler Yeats was a famous poet from Ireland. He wrote a poem called "The Second Coming" in 1919. This was a very hard time in the world. A big war had just ended. Also, a bad flu was making many people sick. Yeats wrote the poem while his wife was getting well.

Yeats had a special way of looking at history. He called these cycles "gyres." He thought history moved like spinning cones. One era grows wide while another grows thin. When they reach a certain point, a crisis happens. This crisis brings a new way of life.

The poem uses scary images to show this change. It talks about a falcon that cannot hear its master. It also describes a world that feels like it is falling apart. In the second part, Yeats describes a vision from the "Spiritus Mundi," or the World Soul. He sees a sphinx with a blank face in the desert. The poem ends by asking about a "rough beast" moving toward Bethlehem. Many people today still find his words very powerful. His lines are used in many books, songs, and movies.

"The Second Coming" is a famous poem by the Irish writer William Butler Yeats. He wrote it in 1919 during a very difficult time in history. The world was dealing with the aftermath of the First World War. At the same time, the Irish War of Independence was just beginning. A bad flu pandemic was also making many people very sick. Yeats wrote these lines while his wife, Georgie, was recovering from the illness. This poem is now seen as a major work of modernist poetry. It has been printed in many famous collections over the years.

To understand the poem, we must look at how Yeats saw history. He believed that human history moves in cycles called "gyres." In his book "A Vision," he explained that these gyres are like spinning cones. One cone might represent a person's soul while another represents general life. He thought these cycles were always expanding or contracting. Every two thousand years, one gyre widens and another narrows. This creates a point of great crisis for the world. From this crisis, a brand new civilization is eventually born.

The poem is split into two main parts or stanzas. The first part describes a world that is breaking down. Yeats uses the image of a falcon that cannot hear its master. This shows that people can no longer control what is happening. He mentions a "blood-dimmed tide" and a loss of innocence. He also writes that the good people are failing to act. The second part of the poem is a prophetic vision. It comes from the "Spiritus Mundi," which means the "World Soul."

In this vision, Yeats describes a sphinx in the desert. This creature has a face that is blank and pitiless. He also mentions desert birds that are circling the sphinx. The poem suggests that a new era is starting. This era might be very different from the one before it. Yeats uses the name "Bethlehem" to talk about this new birth. He ends with a question about a "rough beast" moving toward that place. This connects his ideas to the story of the birth of Jesus.

Many people still use the words from this poem today. The phrase "things fall apart" was used for a famous novel by Chinua Achebe. Other writers and musicians have used the line "the centre cannot hold." You can even find these words in song titles and movie clips. Some scholars say the poem is about how political power changes. Others think it shows how new ideas replace old ones. Because of its deep meaning, the poem remains very important to readers.

"The Second Coming" is a celebrated poem by the Irish poet William Butler Yeats. He wrote the piece in 1919. It first appeared in the magazine "The Dial" in November 1920. Later, it was included in his 1921 collection titled "Michael Robartes and the Dancer." Today, the poem is considered a canonical work of modernist poetry. This means it is viewed as a foundational text of its era. It has been reprinted in many important collections, such as "The Norton Anthology of Modern Poetry."

To understand the poem, one must understand Yeats's unique view of history. He believed history moves in cycles he called "gyres." In his book "A Vision," he explained that a gyre is a combination of a line and a plane. He described the gyre as a cone representing either an individual soul or general life. Yeats believed that two cones must exist because life involves constant conflict. These gyres are always either expanding or contracting. Every two millennia, one gyre widens while the other narrows. This movement creates a point of crisis where a new civilization is born.

Yeats used these cycles to explain the shifting of moral orders. He believed the Greco-Roman era had been replaced by Christianity. However, he felt a return to older principles was inevitable during the 20th century. This idea was shaped by his admiration for the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. Nietzsche also wrote about the reversal of moral orders. The chaos of the First World War and the Irish War of Independence reinforced Yeats's feeling that the world was at an apocalyptic turning point. He even wrote the poem while his wife, Georgie, was recovering from the 1918–1919 flu pandemic. This was a time when the mortality rate for pregnant women reached as high as 70% in some areas.

The poem is structured into two distinct stanzas. The first stanza focuses on the breakdown of the current world order. It begins with the image of a falconer who cannot call his falcon back. This represents the loss of control over a widening gyre. Yeats uses brutal imagery like a "blood-dimmed tide" and the unleashing of anarchy. He notes that the good are unable to act while the wicked are emboldened. This describes a collapse of societal norms and institutions. The repetition of the word "loosed" emphasizes the widening of the gyre.

The second stanza shifts from chaos to a single prophetic vision. This vision comes from the "Spiritus Mundi," or the "World Soul." The narrator sees a sphinx in the desert with a "blank and pitiless" expression. Desert birds circle the creature, contrasting with the falcon from the first stanza. Yeats suggests that twenty centuries of sleep have been disturbed by a rocking cradle. This implies that the peace of the Christian era actually helped breed a new kind of terror. The poem ends with a rhetorical question about a "rough beast" slouching toward Bethlehem.

Critics have studied the poem's deep connections to other famous works. Many believe the poetry of Percy Shelley influenced Yeats's style and syntax. Some scholars argue the poem depicts the destruction of political legitimacy. They point to the line "the worst are full of passionate conviction" as a description of charismatic populism. Others see the poem as an "antithetical dispensation." This means it describes a new era that is the opposite of the age of Jesus. The "rough beast" represents a violent overturning of the old cycle.

The poem's influence extends far beyond literature into many other fields. Phrases from the poem have become famous titles in books, music, and film. For example, Chinua Achebe used "things fall apart" for his famous 1958 novel. The line "the centre cannot hold" has been used by Elyn Saks for her book on schizophrenia. Even the phrase "slouching towards Bethlehem" is used by the writer Joan Didion. Because its themes of change and crisis are so strong, the poem continues to be quoted in modern movies and songs.