In this poem Yeats describes an apocalypse coming, and a new Messiah, described as a Sphinx, is come to ravage the world, being born into the world at Bethlehem. The verb slouching is basically to trudge; or, to move lazily. When Yeats writes “… Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born,” he means
it approaches slowly
.
What is the meaning of the poem The Second Coming?
Yet for all its metaphorical complexity, “The Second Coming” actually has a relatively simple message:
it basically predicts that time is up for humanity, and that civilization as we know it is about to be undone
. Yeats wrote this poem right after World War I, a global catastrophe that killed millions of people.
What creature slouches towards Bethlehem?
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds. Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle, And what
rough beast
, its hour come round at last, Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?
What does the rough beast mean in the Second Coming?
The poem is alluding to the Book of Revelation. The “rough beast” is
the Anti-Christ
. The scene is set for the final showdown and the Second Coming. “Turning and turning in the widening gyre” also alludes to the view of a cyclical nature of history expressed elsewhere by the poet.
Who wrote Slouching Toward Bethlehem?
Joan Didion
is the author of many works of fiction and nonfiction, as well as several screenplays written with her late husband, John Gregory Dunne. Her books include The White Album, Play It As It Lays, and Slouching Towards Bethlehem. She lives in New York City.
Who are the worst in The Second Coming?
Yeats
is referring to sides in the Irish political conflict, complaining that “the best” won’t commit to a full-out rebellion against the English, while the worst are loud and boisterous, but ineffective in their actual actions.
What does blood dimmed tide mean?
The blood-dimmed tide is
loosed, and everywhere
.
The ceremony of innocence is drowned
; These three lines describe a situation of violence and terror through phrases like “anarchy,” “blood-dimmed tide,” and “innocence [. . .] drowned.” (By the way, “mere” doesn’t mean “only” in this context; it means “total” or “pure.”)
What does the falcon symbolize in The Second Coming?
The falcon, separated from the falconer, is lost: without reason, without ruler, without larger cause. It is a
symbol for a lost humanity, at the mercy of uncontrollable forces
. The falcon, in short, is all of us, wandering around the earth, trying to find meaning.
What instruments we have agree?
What instruments we have agree The
day of his death was
a dark cold day. You were silly like us; your gift survived it all: The parish of rich women, physical decay, Yourself. Mad Ireland hurt you into poetry.
What is the definition of falconer?
:
a person who breeds, trains, or hunts with hawks
.
Which city is the beast in The Second Coming approaching?
Answer: William Butler Yeats was born in Dublin, Ireland, on June 13, 1865. Question: Why does the rough beast appear after “…twenty centuries of stony sleep…” in the Yeats poem, “The Second Coming”? Answer: According the speaker of the poem, the rough beast appears and “slouches towards
Bethlehem
to be born.”
What does the Falcon Cannot hear the falconer mean?
B Yeats said that the falcon cannot hear the falconer. And it has a deep symbolic. meaning. He
wanted to say that the human (falcon) doesn’t obey their creator
.
(falconer).
How does the repetition of the phrase The Second Coming?
PART A: How does the repetition of the phrase “The Second Coming” in lines 10-11 contribute to the tone of the poem? The repetition
emphasizes the speaker’s worry and contributes to the fearful tone.
What vision troubles the speaker’s sight?
Immediately after the speaker mentions it, he sees
a beast emerging from the desert
. The beast is emerging from “Spiritus Mundi” which is Latin for “the spirit of the world.” So the beast is emerging from the way we people are today. So this new vision is a horrible one.
Who said the center Cannot hold?
Yeats
wrote this poem in 1919, when post-World War I Europe was in the grip of a stark and bleak period, one in which the center felt as if would not hold.
Is The Second Coming a religious poem?
William Butler Yeats: “The Second Coming” (pp. 399-400) The title is
derived from the Christian belief in the second coming of Christ
. … Christianity is finished, the poem says, and it will be replaced by some “pitiless” force that slouches toward Bethlehem to be born.
