Since I am a Christian I was drawn to Yeats description of the second coming. The second coming has really become a hot topic in the Christian church over the last 100 years. Currently there is all kind of material such as the left behind books that give an account of how they believe the end times will occur. All of these writings are just opinions because the only reference we have to the end of times is Revelation, which is a book filled with visions and symbols. These symbols had specific meaning for the people of this time so it is hard to believe we will really ever have a good working knowledge of what is to come. Yeats begins the poem with a description of the world at this time.
"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." (1122)
Of what I know of the book of Revelation this poem seems to paint a seemingly realistic portrayal of the end of days. As the passage says above innocence is destroyed by the evil that is unleashed upon the earth. The people who are good are shaken past the point of action, while the worst of humanity enjoys this period of anarchy.
Perhaps the most puzzling part of the poem is when he brings up his vision of the creature with the lion body and the head of a man. There are lots of creatures like this in Revelation but I did not see the importance of including one in this writing. Yeats goes on to talk about how Christianity has really been put to sleep through as if they were a baby in a cradle.
"The twenty centuries of stony sleep were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle, and what rough beast, its hour come round at last, Slouches toward Bethlehem to be born." (1123)
This passage of the poem really confused me as I thought the first couple stanzas were pretty straight foward. I honestly have no idea what he was trying to say her and who is supposed to be born in Bethlehem. Jesus was originally from Bethlehem but I don't think he's going to be born again. I really do not know who else he could be talking about though and I am very interested in reading the ideas of my classmates who seem to have a better understanding of poetry than I.
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4 comments:
Jeremy,
I imagine one difficulty in your interpretation of this poem is assuming that the title refers to the second coming of Jesus. Actually, Yeats's spiritual and religious views were rather less orthodox, and the second coming in this poem is of paganism (the beast with the lion's body and man's head). Yeats thought time moved in 2000 year cycles, and the Christian cycle seemed to him nearly at an end.
i got in trouble thinking this one was about Christ too. The title captured my attention as well. I enjoyed your blog
Although this poem may have not been about Jesus's second coming, I still liked that you had your own take on it. Great Job at trying to explain the lines of the poem.
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