The Second Coming

In “The Second Coming,” what does Yeats mean when he writes “The falcon cannot hear the falconer” (line 2)? How does this relate to “the centre cannot hold” (line 3)? In “The Second Coming” there is a footnote at the end of the first line explaining what Yeats envisioned for the word gyre. It mentions that it was meant to represent the age of Christians and how it was spiraling downwards to an end. With this in mind, the second line that reads, “The falcon cannot hear the falconer” it paints a picture of a falcon being distracted from the spiral motion to where it “cannot hear the falconer” (1.2). The falcon represents “The best” that are mentioned in line 7, the falconer represents the second coming of Jesus and the spiraling end of the Christian age is also represented by “the worst” in people (1.7). This relates to “the centre cannot hold” because the centre or the foundation of the Christian age is crumbling with an uprising of anarchy during the first World War (1.3). How does “Araby” convey a sense of…

The implications of Yeats’ inner perspective on World War I resonates with an air of prophecy regarding the negative undertones of future humankind on both a local and universal scale. The ramifications of conflict emerge as concepts in poems such as An Irish Airman Foresees His Death, which examines destiny and the meaning of giving our life to a greater cause. Furthermore, The Second Coming highlights Yeats’s opinion on the apocalyptic cycle of nature while The Wild Swans at Coole delves into…

Fault of an Image: Agency and Inevitability in “The Second Coming” The anxieties regarding global chaos and the possibility of individual culpability that inundated popular thought in the aftermath of World War I informs William Butler Yeats’s poem, “The Second Coming.” At its core, the poem is an exploration of the equivocal boundaries between individual agency—and further, responsibility—and the inevitability of world events determined by an act of divine providence. Rather than embracing…

The book, “Things Fall Apart”, by Chinua Achebe gets its name from the poem, “The Second Coming”, by W. B. Yeats. These two written works have many things in common. They share a common theme and back it up with several literary elements. However, “The Second Coming” by W.B Yeats isn’t the only poem similar to the book, “Things Fall Apart”, by Chinua Achebe. “Things Fall Apart” is also similar to another poem called “Welcome Change”, by Gina Whitacre. All three of these pieces of literature…

the New Age: The second study of the American Yeats Yeats wrote "Second Coming" in 1919, a particularly frustrating moment in history. Europeans were shocked and cynical about World War I. Yeats's hometown, Ireland is on a civil war lunch. Russia's old order has just been overthrown by a revolution, and Yeats's fondness for nobility is feared to spread across the continent and around the globe. Yeats's view of the world's problems is not what many people quote him tonight. First of all, he is…

William Butler Yeats’ poem “The Second Coming,” provides the reader with the mental image of a dark and desolate world on the brink of collapsing. The first line of the poem gives the reader an image of something spiraling out of control. In this case, we can just simply assume it is slowly accumulating storm. As time passes, the storm grows in strength and begins to wreak havoc upon the earth. This storm could represent the United States’ current economic problems and that it is progressively…

The two texts that are going to be analysed are Things Fall Apart and The Second Coming. The theme of religion and history are depicted, and the following essay will discuss how Europeans have influenced societies in terms of those themes. It will also discuss how those aspects contribute to the purpose of writing these texts. I will be exploring texts that Chinua Achebe has borrowed from the poem, The Second Coming and identify its significance to him, and William Butler Yeats. Religion is…

Last Wednesday, I attended to Karls Hall to listen to Assistant Professor of Political Science at George Washington University Samuel Goldman talked about his book and study. His studies revolve around debates about sources about religious political norms and values. The political culture of the United States has developed since the history biblical part of Israel. Since the return of Jews to the Holy Land in Israel, people are starting to believe that it is a start for the Second Coming of…

The incorporation of Joseph Campbell’s Monomyth and Carl Jung’s Archetypes within Isabel Allende’s The House of the Spirits, Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things, and William Butler Yeats’ “The Second Coming” promotes the discussion of the frailty, strength, kindness, and cruelty of humanity and how literature portrays these ideas and themes. In literature, the protagonist often acts as the hero or heroine and embarks upon a journey in order to achieve their ultimate goal, the “Holy Grail,”…

properly. In Vac care, when Bec isn't in Sheridan often puts movies on (there were three on Thursday!). Sheridan will often open up the computer room in vac care so she can chat with staff. She often in the kitchen chatting with Ashleigh, Kendall or Sue. I have worked at OSHC for seven years and the group dynamics are at its worst I have seen. I believe that all staff need to be spoken to one on one about Sue and Sheridan's behaviour as it directly effects everyone and will continue to do so. …