The Second Coming by William Butler Yeats

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An Unexpected Future

In his poem "The Second Coming," William Butler Yeats expresses that the endured disastrous behaviors of humankind will result in the beginning of a new age that is gloomy, fearful, and controlled by chaos. The poem provides as a warning of what may lie ahead if we do not change the direction society continues to take.

“Turning and turning in the widening gyre the falcon cannot hear the falconer;” The falcon is described as "turning" in a "widening gyre". A gyre is a spiral that expands outward as it goes up. “Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;” The thought of "things fall apart" may still be talking about the falcon. The second part of the line, "the centre cannot hold," is crowded with a governmental connection. “Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,” “The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere the ceremony of innocence is drowned;” This explains how water will engulf us in a way, which seems similar to Noah’s Arc and the flood. “The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity.” “The best” and “the worst” may b...

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