Critical Analysis Of Yeat's The Second Coming

Drenched in a dark pessimism, and nightmarish imagery, Yeat’s intent with “The Second Coming” from a text-based perspective, is a prophetic warning to post-WWI Europe. As the narrator is personal - despite his minimal use of first person - and orates alike a prophet who’s illustrating a desolate vision he’s witnessing in real-time. The first stanza is the portrayal of his vision. A collapsing post-WWI society, sitting on and than exceeding the threshold of crisis, represented by symbolic lines such as: “the blood-dimmed tide is loosed.” Which refers to society exceeding the aforesaid threshold of crisis, and the resulting violence. The poem also highlights mans creeping separation from Christian ideologies, though with ambiguity. As the line

The second stanza is in sonnet form, and develops the poem further by introducing a sphinx-like creature. This creature is akin to an anti-Christ of sorts, and a play on the Christian prophecy that the poem is named after. The metaphorical meaning of this creature is encased in modernism ambiguity, modernism being an unconventional literary style, with open-ended symbolism and messages. And thus, reader’s have yet to unanimously agree on an interpretation. However, I and several others, interpret it as the physical embodiment of the products of a conflicted post-WWI environment. Since the environment in the first stanza is volatile, and of it may arise a wretched and vile place that would envelope violence, and death. Violence and death that may derive from malicious intent and the scuffle of control from various states. And overall, makes for a frightening reality. Under this sentiment the logic becomes clear as to why readers commonly interpret the second stanza as an inadvertent prophecy of

As the poem can be interpreted in numerous ways, and therefore, its message has a flexibility that enables its readers to mould it’s meaning to befit them. Thus, allowing its messages to be applicable to anyone, regardless of demographic. For example, the poem can also be interpreted by Christians as man’s decaying interest of Christian ideologies and the supposed products of this decay. A view held by plenty of older Christians and a important view for Christian youth to acquire in order to cement their beliefs. Though the message conveyed by Yeats that can be applicable to all contemporary youth, is that depravity and tension arouses conflict. And when we look forward, we feel our anxiety stir at the inevitable - at the international conflict embedded in humanities future. Why will this conflict occur? Because if relations between ‘super-powers’ are withered now, how would it cope though overpopulation, the depletion of resources and other problems ever nation has to overcome? How can we be sure that these super-powers won’t value land, and resources such as oil over their populations in order to maintain their economic and political power? We don’t. This is why a third world war is indeed probable, and why this poem’s core message is still relevant to all