The Second Coming

The Second Coming

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I'm staying in tonight! Share this Rating Title: The Second Coming of Christ 4.

William Butler Yeats

Use the HTML below. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. Learn more More Like This. Monsters at Large Bernie The Dolphin Edit Cast Cast overview, first billed only: Beatrix Cera Jason London John Zachary Quinton Aaron Sonya Antonov Al Sapienza Colonel Krewiss Tom Sizemore Alba Maria Julieta Georoiu Mary, Mother of Jesus Jason Tobias Jesus Christ Vincent Rivera The Resident Les Brandt John the Apostle Nazo Bravo Sassounian as Naz Aslanian Constantin Alecse Edit Storyline The journey of a woman scientist who, at the end of times, discovers that true Faith can bring Miracles.

Edit Details Official Sites: His poems are published online and in print. Already established as a poet, theatre director, politician and esoteric philosopher, this poem further enhanced his reputation as a leading cultural figure of the time. In a letter to a friend, Yeats said that the poem was 'written some 16 or 17 years ago and foretold what is happening ', that is, Yeats poetically predicted the rise of a rough beast that manifested as chaos and upheaval in the form of Nazism and Fascism, bringing Europe to its knees.

Yeats had lived through tough times - World War 1 had seen unprecedented slaughter; several Irish Nationalists had been executed in the struggle for freedom; the Russian revolution had caused upheaval - and The Second Coming seemed to tap into the zeitgeist. His poem seems to suggest that world affairs and spirituality undergo transformation from time to time. Humankind has to experience darkness before the light can stream in again through the cracks.

The Second Coming - Poem by William Butler Yeats

Things might fall apart, systems collapse and spiritual refreshment can only be achieved through the second coming: Except that this second coming would be no holy birth of an infant Christ in a lowly manger. Something far sinister is in prospect; an antithetical creature, sphinx-like in nature, a rough beast, slouching its way, about to be born en route to a symbolic Bethlehem.

The Second Coming is a disturbing poem with memorable lines that have been used by modern writers, rock bands and others as titles for their work. It's a highly visual two stanza creation, ending in a long, deep question. 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. Hardly are those words out When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi Troubles my sight: 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?

A 22 line poem, two stanzas, in free verse, with loose iambic pentameter mostly five stresses and ten syllables per line but there are variations , The Second Coming is one of the more successful non rhyming poems Yeats wrote. As you read through, note the change in rhythm and texture as the narrative alters. For the whole of the first stanza and some of the second, the speaker is objectively describing events. It's as if there's a running commentary on something profound happening inside the speaker's mind.

Only when the vast image is seen through the mind's eye? The cycles that underpin spiritual existence have come round again: The first stanza is full of dramatic verbs: Note the first word is repeated to accentuate the idea of the falcon's action as it flies away from the falconer. Later on it will evolve into a very different creature.

Because of the dire situation established in the first stanza, some kind of fateful release is triggered. The result is the emergence of a sphinx-like figure from the World Soul, the Vital Spirit. It's on its way to the spiritual headquarters to be born.

Just like the Christ child was years ago. Enjambment, alliteration and assonance all play their part in these second stanza lines:. The final two lines are popular and well known. The rough beast about to be born after twenty centuries could take the form of a government, a tyrant, a regime - according to the cosmic and spiritual laws it would have to counteract the effects of religion, Christianity.

A new civilization will be born, one that will reject what previous generations celebrated, and celebrate what previous generations rejected. With strong involvement in political, cultural and spiritual matters, William Butler Yeats the poet was in a unique position to write a poem as far reaching as The Second Coming. The poem is full of exotic and unusual imagery.

Quick Links - Poets.org

The first two lines for instance take the reader off into the air on the strong wings of a falcon, far away from the hand of the falconer. Control is already being lost. Gyre means spiral or vortex, a geometrical figure and symbol fundamental to the cyclical view of history that Yeats held to. As the falcon sweeps higher and higher this vortex or cone shape widens and weakens the hold on reality. Not only is the bird representing a cycle of civilisation, it is a symbol for Nature in its sharpest, cleanest sense.

The Second Coming (poem)

Humankind is losing touch with Nature and has to bear the consequences. As this trend continues there is an inevitable collapse of systems and society. Again, Yeats delivers a vivid picture of the consequences, repeating the word loosed in tsunami-like imagery, as humanity descends into moral confusion. The Second Coming relies heavily on certain words being repeated, perhaps to emphasise the cyclic nature of things.

So the Second Coming dominates the start of the second stanza. The speaker exclaims excitedly and the reader has to prepare for what follows: There are clear biblical echoes here: The cosmic clock is ticking, alignments are being made.

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