What does the second stanza of The Second Coming mean?
The poem’s first stanza describes a world of chaos, confusion, and pain. The second, longer stanza imagines the speaker receiving a vision of the future, but this vision replaces Jesus’s heroic return with what seems to be the arrival of a grotesque beast.
What do Lines 7/8 mean in The Second Coming?
Lines 7-8. The best lack all conviction, while the worst. Are full of passionate intensity. Who are “the best” and “the worst”? One way of deciphering them is that Yeats is talking about “the good” and “the bad.” But he doesn’t use those words in the poem, and these lines are a clue as to why not.
How many lines are there in The Second Coming?
The Second Coming (poem)
| by W. B. Yeats | |
|---|---|
| Written | 1919 |
| Publication date | 1920 |
| Media type | |
| Lines | 22 |
What is the structure of the poem The Second Coming?
The poem “The Second Coming” consists of two stanzas, with eight verses in the first stanza, and 14 verses in the second one. Its rhyme scheme is blank verse.
What does the gyre symbolize in the Second Coming?
A gyre, according to Yeats, represented “the precise movement” of the human mind, according to the introduction to his 1921 publication The Second Coming. The word “gyre” therefore refers to the spiral motion of the falcon as it flies.
What does the rough beast symbolize in the Second Coming?
The poem is alluding to the Book of Revelation. The “rough beast” is the Anti-Christ. The scene is set for the final showdown and the Second Coming. Thus, with its unremitting pessimistic tone notwithstanding, the poem at least gives humankind the possibility of redemption.
What is the meaning of The Second Coming by Yeats?
“The Second Coming” was intended by Yeats to describe the current historical moment (the poem appeared in 1921) in terms of these gyres. Yeats believed that the world was on the threshold of an apocalyptic revelation, as history reached the end of the outer gyre (to speak roughly) and began moving along the inner gyre.
What is the main theme of the poem The Second Coming?
The basic theme of the poem is the death of the old world, to be followed by the rebirth of a new one. It draws upon Biblical symbolism of the apocalypse and the second coming of Christ to make its point. However, Yeats poses the question of what will be born out of this overwhelming chaos.
What is the tone of the poem The Second Coming?
In poetry, tone is the feeling a writer projects through word choice, imagery and subject. The foreboding tone of Irishman William Butler Yeats’ poem “The Second Coming” — a vision of social upheaval — can make a reader feel moody and worried.
What is the theme of The Second Coming?
Major Themes of “The Second Coming”: Violence, prophecy, and meaninglessness are the major themes foregrounded in this poem. Yeats emphasizes that the present world is falling apart, and a new ominous reality is going to emerge. The idea of “the Second Coming” is not Biblical.
How does the idea of gyre theory work in The Second Coming?
In “The Second Coming,” one gyre, or epoch of history, is about to come to an end, giving way to another. This is the epoch that has lasted since the birth of Christ. In its place will arise a completely different era, one characterized by bloodshed, chaos, and violence.
What does the first line of the Second Coming mean?
The poem’s first line implies that something is turning and changing within the universe. This first line serves to create a sense of mystery from the poem’s very beginning; it is obscure and complex, ominous withholding of any clues about what might be happening.
What is the meaning of the Second Coming poem?
“The Second Coming” offers an unsettling take on Christian morality, suggesting that it is not the stable and reliable force that people believe it to be. The poem clearly alludes to the biblical Book of Revelation from the start, in which, put simply, Jesus returns to Earth to save the worthy.
What does the second line of the poem mean?
The poem’s second line zooms from that gigantic, unclear beginning straight into a very specific and symbolic image—the falcon, which has lost touch with its falconer.
What happens in the second half of the Second Coming?
In the second half of the poem, Yeats looks beyond the present into the future. He has taken stock of all that is going on, and he knows that certainly something large must be happening—all this chaos cannot be accidental; it must be part of an event of apocalyptic proportions.