Shards of positive facets in William Butler Yeats ‘ The Second Coming
Altough The Second Coming consists of really dark imagination from the beginning to the terminal, it does non nessesarily intend to present a glance of a negative hereafter of apocaliptic catastrophe, and the terminal of world. The verse form begins with and intense vision of the ever-turning, ever-widening coil, which is the unmistakeable symbol of the rhythm of history, and the first mark of continuity: history repeats itself on a widening graduated table, as the beds keep blossoming on each other, and the events go more and more obvious. But this does non intend the coil will halt turning, world may be mentally altered by this procedure of varied continuity, as the „The falcon can non hear the falconer” . ( 2nd line ) . The falcon can be interpreted as the symbol of cognition, the corporate conciousness of world, separated from logical idea. This logical, clear thought worked as a shadiness in order to envelop the possibilities of the human head, to the point, where we no longer can be without thought, everything revolves around the fact that people can non respond conciously any longer, merely under a sort shell of an semblance, that consists of 1000000s of thinking-patterns, and one merely has to take one in order to do a „connection” with other existences.
In my respect it could be besides that the falcon itself is interpreted as this illusional cognition based on thinking-patterns. This semblance, this protective shell can no longer defy the changeless repetition and broadening of the historical rhythm, and finally it is traveling to check. As the devastation of this shell nears, the falcon-illusion becomes more and more disconnected from the hawker, as the kernel of cognition strays from human sort. „Things fall apart, the Centre can non hold” ( 3rd line ) . The Centre is a building of the falcon ‘s -I will travel with my reading, as the imposter falcon ‘s and the hawker ‘s -mankind’s- bond, which ends up losing credibleness during the reveal of continuity, and as it falls apart, it creates mere lawlessness ; misinterpreted messages throughout instructions, philosophical misinterpretations, utmost esthesiss occured by misdirecting constructs. In this apprehention, this process has a little positive facet to it ; it can be looked at, as the growing of the human concious, similar to the growing of a butterfly ; it is long and painful. It fights its manner trough its shell, merely to happen itself crinkled and confused, unable to wing in this new universe -anarchy- , but finally it manages to take off from the land, encompassing its esthesis of alteration. „The blood-dimmed tide” ( 5th line ) can be besides looked at as a symbol of alteration ; the immense mass of H2O, the symbol of life and decease is assorted with blood, besides the symbol of life and decease, but a symbol of pandemonium as good, which is ever present during the procedure of alteration.
The tide is non merely a symbol of alteration, it is H2O, the symbol of life and decease. This H2O is combined with blood, another symbol of life, and literally, the kernel of life for worlds, but it besides means force, choler. And as „The ceremonial of artlessness is drowned” ( 6th line ) , which means, that the semblance of sinlessness – Yeats uses baptism here, as an indifferent mention – Ravels in this tide of alteration and obvious, aggressive growing, „the best deficiency all strong belief, ” ( 7th line ) as the corruptness of world had the upper category submerging in their ain proud semblances and greed, „while the worst are full of passionate intensity” ( 8th line ) : the worst, as the bulk of people, with their enclosed cognition and fresh thoughts, which are imploring their manner trough the clefts of this semblance, deluging the misbeliefs, the unimportant hypothesises, making a new age of fruitful planetary conciousness. This process is told by a really dark vision -not without any irony, in my regard- , but I think Yeats wanted to make a scenery of heroic poem alterations, and no alteration is without any pandemonium or hurting. This alteration will be intense, but its consequence will be tantamount to its strength.
In the 2nd portion -in this visible radiation, at least- , the reader is given an obvious intimation about the little moving ridge of irony, which, in my respect, spirits the whole verse form: „Surely some disclosure is at manus ; certainly the 2nd approach is at hand” ( 9th and 10th line ) . The disclosure, either by the christan belief that Jesus Jesus will come and liberate us all, or the sheer comfort of the human logic, that our actions have no consequence on us in the hereafter, is commanding world. But this disclosure -as described in Yeats ‘ vision- is non without effects, as „a huge image out of Spiritus Mundi” ( translated the spirit of the universe ) appears, relaying anxiousness, the fright of drastic alteration. This immense image of a man-headed king of beasts organic structure, one of the most ancient symbols of cognition and wisdom, in all its glorification and appaling, about overpowering presence, is the image of a revolution of the spirit of adult male. An reading from Brian Jones describe this animal, as the precursor of the 1„Judgement Day. . . . the terminal of the world” , which is inevitable. And in my respect, it is besides terrorizing, but it holds the key to a more evolved province of world. In the „waste of desert sand” ( 12th line ) , this „beast” of absolute cognition is nearing, with „A regard space and pitiless as the Sun, ” ( 14th line ) is besides a complex and strong symbol. In my reading, this desert is the vision of world ‘s ignorance, dryed out outlook, the effortless series of actions for avoiding alterations troughnout the decennaries. Therefore wisdom and inevitable alteration appears, in the signifier of the terrifying Sphynx. The fright of alteration had good adequate clip to turn inside the human subconcious, and became so overpoweringly detestable, that merely a freak like this seem suiting to depict it as a metaphor. Harold Bloom has a really similar vision in his survey: “Yeats ‘s verse form so is about the 2nd birth of Urizen or the Egyptian Sphinx, but in a context of radical and counter-revolutionary violence”2. The Sun -the eyes of the Sphynx- is a symbol for life, its visible radiation can be looked at as the wisdom and cognition, but it is besides a symbol for decease, similar to H2O. I can non assist but to do a connexion with the scene of a purgatory here. Manifested in a man-headed king of beasts organic structure, the absolute cognition is coming to give the trial of courage to mankind. The pick of resenting alteration -denying sin- and therefore firing alive is an option, but if we force ouselves to turn at the coveted rate, and manage to chasten the animal by accepting the nessesarity of alterations, world could last, in the interim going better than of all time during the procedure.
In line 16, Yeats uses the look of „Reel shadows of the incensed desert birds” , drifting around the animal: In Mcrey „Mac” Moyer ‘s essay „The Poem and the Beast: Artistic and Topical Readings of Yeats ‘ “ The Second Coming ” , these shadowy, staggering birds „are meant to be vultures picking over the slaughter of the animal ‘s path”3, but in my respect, the eagle-symbol and this angry drove of sordid birds have a connexion, every bit good as the look „reel shadows” . The „indignant desert birds” are the current religious province of world, the sheer imitiations of the one time strong and proud bird of Jove, the symbol of true cognition and clear vision, drifting as „reel shadows” around the spirit of the universe. This reel is invariably reiterating itself, rarefying to a weak, dark and baffled shadow, once more, an imitation of true alteration. „The darkness beads once more but now I know that 20 centuries of rocky slumber were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle.” ( 17th -19th line ) : this sentence evidently contains some scriptural mentions, in respect of „twenty centuries” , but it is merely a tool to show the deficiency of redemption, in footings of some strong might will salvage world merely by believing in it. The image of the rocking cradle seems like an interesting contention: it can be looked at as the effeminated cot of Jesus Christ, the weakened and insouciant conciousness of work forces, feeding the bloodcurdling pandemonium troughout the old ages. Salvation merely occurs if world saves itself by doing the nessesary alterations, therefore wake uping from „the stony slumber wexed to a nightmare” by acquiring out of the „rocking cradle” of comfy misbelief. The darkness is merely an accent of the fact that the alteration does non come from the exterior, it needs to germinate from the interior of work forces, and with that done, the visible radiation of cognition could one time once more expose the sky. In the last two lines ( the 20th and th 21st ) Yeats states the inquiry: ”And what rough animal, its hr come unit of ammunition at last, slouches towards Bethlehem to be born? ” This is a poetic inquiry. One can see this as the horror of the universe ‘s terminal, but in my reading it can be looked at as a horrifying yet good nessesary event of world, which is inevitable. Some scriptural images occur once more, but that is Yeat ‘s lone tool for inquiring the inquiry to the civilisation: What will the hereafter bring? Will we discontinue by submerging ourselves in lawlessness, or will we pull off to defy the hurting, and embracing ousrelves? Reflected on today ‘s life, I think yes. This verse form is topical, even to this twenty-four hours. With the progressing engineering, the exchange of information is faster than of all time, therefore the significance of the multitudes are go uping on a much faster rate than of all time before, which could look anarchistic presents, but it could easy stop up ensuing a revolution of the head of planetary propotions. I think I have proven my point that Yeats ‘ vision is non nessesarily a negative one, it can be looked at as a prognosis for a drastic revolution of the planetary conciousness of world.
Plants Consulted:
1. Jones, Brian. W.B. Yeats – The Second Coming – Interpretations: 2007, line 38 ( internet beginning )
2. Bloom, Harold. Yeats: 1972, page 319
3. Moyer, Mcrey “Mac” . The Poem and the Beast: Artistic and Topical Readings of Yeats ‘ “ The Second Coming ” : 2003, line 15 ( internet beginning )
Internet beginnings:
hypertext transfer protocol: //thebeckoning.com/poetry/yeats/yeats5.html Retrieved on 28. 11. 2007
hypertext transfer protocol: //secretdoors.com/weavermoon/secondcoming.html Retrieved on 09. 03. 2003
