The Second Coming by W B Yeats analysis and interpretation.

 The Second Coming

The second coming is one of the celebrated poems of Willam Butler Yeats, written in 1919. It was written in aftermath of world war 1. The destruction and chaos of war had a profound effect on social life and literature. W.B Yeats, in this poem, talks about the downfall of human civilization. This poem has multiple interpretations, but I will try to be as accurate as possible. 


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.


Analysis:

Stanza 1:

In the first line, Yeats is talking about a gyre. A gyre is a whirl or a spiral. Different scholars and theorists have different opinions about history. Yeats considered history as two interpenetrating gyres (spirals). The end of one is the beginning of the other. He was also of the opinion that after a period of 2000 years history will collapse and a new era will begin. The spiral also possesses a centre which is why in the third he says that a centre will collapse, referring to the collapse of the gyre.

In the second line, the falcon and the falconer are two symbols that can have many interpretations. It can be assumed from the theme of the poem that the falcon represents humans and the falconer is Jesus Christ. Humans are disobedient and they shun the teachings of Jesus Christ. The disobedience of humans has caused destruction in the world in the form of the world war. In the rest of the lines, he has highlighted the consequences of humans' sins. The blood-dimmed tide is an indication of the bloodshed and political chaos in the world. In the last three lines, he says that the good humans are no longer respected or given the importance which is why they are no longer interested in goodness anymore while the bad people are enjoying and taking benefits from this mess in the world.


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?


Stanza 2:


In the first and second lines, he is talking about the revelation of the coming of a beast, destruction due to war. Some misunderstand this and believe that he is talking about Christ coming but it is not appropriate and it will be clear as we explore further. In the third line of the stanza, he is talking about “Spiritus Mundi” which refers to the idea of the collective unconscious or world spirit. According to this philosophy, all humans share a memory called a universal memory. In the third line, he is saying that he saw a beast in his imagination. The beast was like a Sphinx, with a lion's body and a human head. Its eyes were empty but the gaze was terrifying. The was slowly moving its body parts. Above it was some desert birds, like vultures, which is signifying death. In the tenth line, he says the darkness drops again means that he wakes up from his dream and he is no longer seeing that monster. Then, he says that now he is confirmed that the beast is wakened up from his sound sleep of 2000 years (remember the gyres and 2000 years cycle from the first stanza). The time of the destruction and annihilation of humans is upon our heads. The beast started movent towards Bethlehem (a Palestinian town south of Jerusalem) for complete power.

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