“The Second Coming” explains Yeats’ theory of the movement of history. Yeats’ philosophy focuses on ‘gyres,’ circular or spiral turns, which represent progression into a new era.
Spiritual themes intertwine within the poem and reflect Yeats’ personal ideologies about the human psyche, cultural history, and the progression of time. Yeats wrote “The Second Coming” in 1919 during a transitory period after World War I. The narrative element of this piece concentrates on the passage of one age coming into the next. “The Second Coming,” zooms in on the chaos and “mere anarchy [that] is loosed upon the world” (4). The speaker’s involvement begins as objective, detailing the narrative, then shifts to a subjective point of view. The opening lines of the second stanza illustrate Yeats’ conviction towards the second coming, repeating “Surely some revelation is at hand / Surely the Second Coming is at hand” (9-10). The revelation sought by society comes in the form of a sphinx from the Spiritus Mundi (Yeats’ term for the collective unconscious). Yeats portrays the speaker receiving a message from the figure, which creates discomfort regarding the revelation, perhaps signifying the absence of the desired answer. Even in the beginning of the final stanza, the previous declarative attitude continues: “The darkness drops again but now I know” (18).
Ambiguity arises when the final line contradicts the speaker’s certainty, ending the entire poem with a question, ultimately symbolizing the hesitation associated with the Second Coming. To connect this poem to ideas we discussed in class, I asked myself: does this offer consolation in the face of a changing society? I believe the answer lies in the final line when speaker defies his own assurance, undermining the assertion previously made in the middle stanza. Calling back to the encounter with the sphinx, even more uneasiness reveals the poem’s lack of conclusion. Consequently, the stylistic choices embody the modernist period as Yeats emphasizes the confusion tied into this era.
The prophetic weight that this poem takes on–essentially announcing the coming closing of an era, marked by uncertain apocalypse–always surprises me. But if any moment had the feeling of an ending / uncertain new beginning, the middle and late years of WWI certainly qualify.
I like the pressure you put on that final question mark; for me, the ending of the poem, despite its casting as a question, seems very confident. The question for me doesn’t inspire uncertainty, but rather demands that the reader look up and consider what is coming. In that sense, the interrogative takes on the quality of the imperative: “Look”! I sense more ambiguity in the hedging “surelys.” Whatever the hedging, there is such confident phrasing in this poem–phrasing that has taken on a life of its own: things fall apart, slouching toward bethlehem–these and other phrases have become a part of our cultural fabric, our language of encroaching disaster. Great post!