Second Coming by W.B Yeats
About the author
W.B Yeats (1865 to
1939) - full name, William Butler Yeats was an Irish poet Dramatist, one of the
foremost figures of 20th century. He was also the part of Irish literary
Revival and became a pillar of the Irish establishment and also he is the
founder of Abbey theatre.
Notable works
(1) The Lake Isle of
Innisfree
(2) Sailing to
Byzantium
(3) Leda and Swan
(4) Second coming
(5) On Baile's
Strand
Yeats was a protestant
at Anglo Irish war and Iris political movement which was a reflected in his
poem – ‘Leda and Swan’. However in 20th century, poetry becomes realistic and
physical but he stayed to imaginary and cyclical theories for poetry.
W.B Yeats was awarded
the Nobel Prize in Literature 1923.He also become one of the chief playwrights
as his plays, ‘On Baile’s strand’ and ‘At the Hawks Well’ had a massive success.
Introduction: second
coming
Second coming is a poem
written by Irish poet W.B Yeats in 1999. This poem uses the Christian imagery
regarding to Apocalypses and second coming of Jesus Christ after post world war
in Europe.
It is considered as
major work of modernist poetry and has been reprinted in many collections
translated in many languages.
From and style
This poem ‘Second Coming’
is written in a very rough Iambic pentameter but meter is so loose that it
almost becomes a free verse with a heavy stress.
Historical context
this poem was written
after first world war and the beginning of iris war in independence so it's
used in the phrase the second birth instead of second coming in his first drops
but later on change it
Summary
Yeats describes a kind
of nightmare as the ‘Falcon’ turning into a broadened ‘Gyre’ and written that,
‘Things fall apart the centre cannot hold’. Yeats describes that things are
falling apart and Innocence is drowned.
The poet believes that
the world is near to end so that surely second coming is going to happen, the
second coming means ‘A birth of Jesus Christ’ - as a messenger of God to revive
the humanity. ‘The Vast Image of Spiritual Mundi’ who is in the shape of half men and half lion appears and poet
assumed that this is a sign of end. The darkness drops again over poet’s sight
but he knows through much description it is believed that ‘a fellow to be born
in a Bethlehem’ means the second birth of Jesus is going to happen according to
poet.
The imagery that was
used by Yeats is very terrifying, violent and ritualistic. The second coming is
Yeats’s most famous poem though it is also one of the difficult to understand.
First stanza describe
the condition presented in the world and the second standard summaries those
conditions are monstrous that is about the to take place, we knew Jesus is a
‘Messiah’ described as ‘The Slouching spirit rising itself in the desert and
Limbering towards Bethlehem’.
Yeats crafted a
mystical theory of Universe that he Discovered, he shares the experience of
belief system and articulate the Theory through history in a version of a poem.
The second coming was
intended by Yeats to describe the historical movement. Poet believed that the
world is on the starting point of Apocalypse, in other words we can say that
the world's tragic end is near so the need of second coming is much needed.
The Second Coming is a
best example of religious poetry. ‘The coming of rough beast and coming of God
towards the Bethlehem’ is symbol of a new age. It is very philosophical and
Prophetic but as poetry it is simple mystical theory of a vision of a poet. It
is also about a conflict between the modern world and ancient world.
As a conclusion we can
say that it is one of the best poems of W.B Yeast as an example of religious
poetry.
