The Second Coming By William Butler Yeats : A study of poetry-2 (Sem-2)

The Second Coming By William Butler Yeats

Turning and turning in the widening gyre   

The falcon cannot hear the falconer;

Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;

Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,

The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere   

The ceremony of innocence is drowned;

The best lack all conviction, while the worst   

Are full of passionate intensity.

Surely some revelation is at hand;

Surely the Second Coming is at hand.   

The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out   

When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi

Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert   

A shape with lion body and the head of a man,   

A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,   

Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it   

Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.   

The darkness drops again; but now I know   

That twenty centuries of stony sleep

Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,   

And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,   

Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

The Second Coming – Overview

“The Second Coming” is a famous modernist poem written by W. B. Yeats. The poem was written in 1919, first published in 1920 in the magazine The Dial, and later included in the poetry collection Michael Robartes and the Dancer (1921). It is one of Yeats’s most well-known poems and a major work of modernist literature.

Basic Information

Title: The Second Coming

Poet: W. B. Yeats

Year Written: 1919

First Publication: 1920 in The Dial

Collection: Michael Robartes and the Dancer (1921)

Country: Ireland

Language: English

Form: Lyric poem

Number of Lines: 22

Background

The poem was written after World War I, during a period of political and social instability in Europe. At the same time, Ireland was entering the Irish War of Independence, and the world had recently experienced the 1918–1919 influenza pandemic. These events influenced Yeats’s vision of a world falling into chaos and uncertainty.

Yeats believed that history moves in cycles, which he described as “gyres”—spiral movements where one civilization collapses and another begins. This idea is reflected in the poem’s imagery of a widening spiral and a world losing control.

Short Summary

The poem describes a world where order and stability are breaking down. In the opening lines, Yeats presents the image of a falcon flying so far away that it cannot hear the falconer, symbolizing humanity losing control and direction.

The poem describes a chaotic world where “things fall apart” and the center cannot hold, meaning that traditional values, authority, and social order are collapsing. Violence and disorder spread everywhere, while good people seem powerless and the wicked appear strong.

In the second part of the poem, the speaker imagines that a great revelation is about to happen—the Second Coming, a biblical idea referring to the return of Jesus Christ. However, instead of a savior, the speaker sees a frightening vision from the Spiritus Mundi (the world spirit): a mysterious creature with the body of a lion and the head of a man.

The poem ends with a disturbing question about what “rough beast” is slowly moving toward Bethlehem to be born, suggesting the arrival of a new and frightening era.

Themes

Chaos and Collapse of Civilization – The poem describes the breakdown of social and moral order.

Apocalyptic Vision – It presents a frightening image of a new era emerging from destruction.

Cycles of History – Yeats suggests that history moves through repeating cycles where one age replaces another.

Loss of Moral Authority – Traditional beliefs and values no longer guide society.

Literary Features

Imagery: Powerful images such as the falcon and falconer, the blood-dimmed tide, and the “rough beast.”

Symbolism: The widening gyre symbolizes a world spiraling out of control.

Biblical References: The title refers to the Christian belief in the Second Coming of Christ, but Yeats presents a darker interpretation.

Tone: Dark, prophetic, and apocalyptic.

Conclusion

The Second Coming is one of the most influential poems of the twentieth century. Through powerful imagery and symbolic language, Yeats expresses the fear that the world is entering a period of chaos and transformation. The poem reflects the uncertainty of the post-World War I era and suggests that the collapse of one civilization may lead to the birth of a new and possibly darker age.