The Second Coming

“The Second Coming” was written in January 1919 and published in 1920. It is one of the most quoted poems in the English language. Written in the aftermath of World War I, the Russian Revolution, and the Irish War of Independence, the poem presents a vision of civilisation collapsing and a terrifying new era beginning. Its images and phrases have entered everyday language, making it one of the most culturally significant poems of the twentieth century.

For exams, this poem is essential when discussing Yeats’s apocalyptic vision, his use of symbolism, and his belief that history moves in cycles. It also demonstrates his later, harder, more intellectually demanding style.

Context

Yeats believed that history moved in two-thousand-year cycles, which he called “gyres.” Each cycle begins with a revelation (like the birth of Christ) and ends in chaos as the old order breaks down. By 1919, Yeats believed that the Christian era was ending and that a new, unknown era was about to begin. The violence of World War I, the collapse of empires, and the political upheaval in Ireland all seemed to confirm this. The title refers to the Christian belief in Christ’s return, but Yeats subverts it: the “rough beast” that approaches is not Christ but something far more frightening.

Line-by-Line Analysis

Lines 1-8 (Part 1)

Analysis: The poem opens with the image of a falcon spiralling outward in a widening gyre (spiral) until it can no longer hear the falconer. This is Yeats’s central metaphor for the breakdown of order. The falcon represents forces that have escaped control, and the falconer represents the authority or tradition that once held them in check. What follows is a series of declarative statements about the state of the world: “Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold.” Anarchy is loose, the “blood-dimmed tide” drowns innocence, and the best people have lost their conviction while the worst are full of “passionate intensity.”

• Quote: “Turning and turning in the widening gyre / The falcon cannot hear the falconer” (ll.1-2) – Explanation: The widening spiral suggests increasing distance between order and chaos. The falcon has moved beyond the reach of control. This image captures the sense that civilisation has spun out of its centre.
• Quote: “Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold” (l.3) – Explanation: One of the most famous lines in English poetry. “The centre” represents order, tradition, and stability. Its collapse means everything is breaking down. The semicolon creates a pause that mimics the moment of fracture.
• Quote: “The best lack all conviction, while the worst / Are full of passionate intensity” (ll.7-8) – Explanation: A devastating observation about political life. Those with good values have become uncertain, while fanatics and extremists act with terrifying confidence. This line feels as relevant today as it did in 1919.

Lines 9-22 (Part 2)

Analysis: The poem shifts from diagnosis to vision. The speaker feels that “surely some revelation is at hand.” A vast image emerges from Spiritus Mundi (the collective unconscious): a shape with a lion’s body and a man’s head, moving through the desert. Darkness drops over the scene, and the speaker realises that twenty centuries of “stony sleep” have been disturbed by a “rocking cradle.” The poem ends with a question that is also a prophecy: what “rough beast” is slouching towards Bethlehem to be born?

• Quote: “A shape with lion body and the head of a man, / A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun” (ll.14-15) – Explanation: This sphinx-like creature is deliberately ambiguous. It is powerful, ancient, and inhuman. The “blank and pitiless” gaze suggests a force that is beyond morality, neither good nor evil but simply overwhelming.
• Quote: “And what rough beast, its hour come round at last, / Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?” (ll.21-22) – Explanation: The poem’s closing question is its most disturbing image. “Slouches” is a word associated with laziness and ugliness, deliberately contrasting with the Christian story of Christ’s birth in Bethlehem. The new era will not arrive with glory but with something crude and menacing. The question mark leaves the identity of the “rough beast” open and terrifying.

Literary Devices

• Symbolism: The gyre (spiral), the falcon and falconer, the rough beast, and Bethlehem are all loaded with symbolic meaning. The gyre represents cyclical history, the falcon represents forces beyond control, and the rough beast represents whatever terrifying new era is coming.
• Allusion: The title alludes to Christian eschatology (the Second Coming of Christ), but Yeats subverts this by replacing Christ with a monstrous, unknowable figure.
• Imagery: The poem’s images are visceral and apocalyptic: “blood-dimmed tide,” “blank and pitiless as the sun,” “slouches towards Bethlehem.” Each image contributes to a sense of dread.
• Rhetorical Question: The final question creates unresolvable tension. Yeats does not tell us what the rough beast is. The uncertainty is the point.
• Juxtaposition: The sacred (Bethlehem, revelation) is placed alongside the monstrous (rough beast, slouching), creating a disturbing collision of the holy and the horrifying.

Mood

The mood is apocalyptic and deeply unsettling. The poem moves from observation of chaos to prophetic vision with increasing intensity. There is no comfort or reassurance. The calm, declarative tone of the opening makes the horror more effective: Yeats presents the collapse of civilisation as a matter of fact, not as melodrama.

Themes

• The Collapse of Order: The central theme. Everything that held civilisation together is breaking down, and no one can stop it.
• Cyclical History: Yeats believed history moves in cycles. One era ends, another begins. The “rough beast” is the harbinger of a new, unknown age.
• Violence and Chaos: The poem is steeped in violence (“blood-dimmed tide,” “mere anarchy”). The world is losing its capacity for peace and reason.
• The Loss of Values: The best have lost conviction; the worst act with passionate intensity. The moral compass of civilisation has broken.
• Fear of the Unknown: The poem does not identify the “rough beast.” This deliberate uncertainty makes the threat feel universal and timeless.

Pitfalls

• Do not interpret the “rough beast” as a specific historical figure or event. Yeats leaves it deliberately vague. Its power lies in its ambiguity.
• Do not ignore Yeats’s theory of gyres. You do not need to explain it in detail, but showing awareness that he believed in cyclical history will strengthen your answer.
• Do not treat this as a purely negative poem. Yeats saw the coming change as terrifying but also inevitable and, in some sense, necessary.

Rapid Revision Drills

• What does the falcon and falconer metaphor represent, and why is it effective?
• How does Yeats create a sense of dread and apocalypse through imagery?
• What is the significance of the poem’s final question?

Conclusion

“The Second Coming” is Yeats at his most visionary and disturbing. The poem captures a moment of historical crisis with images so powerful that they have become part of the way we think about the modern world. For exams, it is essential when discussing Yeats’s symbolism, his view of history, and his later, more challenging style. It pairs well with “Easter 1916” (another poem about historical upheaval) and “Sailing to Byzantium” (another poem about escaping a world that is falling apart).

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