The Second Coming
W.B. Yeats' 'The Second Coming' is a reflection on the chaos and disintegration of the post-World War I world. The poem begins with the image of a falcon spiraling out of control, symbolizing the loss of order and the breakdown of traditional structures. Yeats uses the metaphor of a 'widening gyre' to depict the expanding chaos. The poem suggests that the world is on the brink of a new revelation, akin to the biblical Second Coming, but instead of a savior, a monstrous beast is approaching. This beast, with a lion's body and a man's head, represents a new era of darkness and destruction. The poem captures the anxiety and uncertainty of the time, as well as Yeats' belief in cyclical history, where the end of one era leads to the birth of another. The imagery of the 'blood-dimmed tide' and 'ceremony of innocence drowned' conveys a sense of violence and loss of purity. Yeats' use of Christian imagery and apocalyptic themes underscores the gravity of the historical moment and the poet's sense of foreboding about the future.
| Word | English میں | سادہ (English) | Pron. |
|---|---|---|---|
| gyre | spiral or circular motion | a spinning or circular path | jai-er |
| falconer | person who trains falcons | a trainer of birds of prey | fal-kuh-ner |
| anarchy | chaos, disorder | a state of disorder and lawlessness | an-ar-kee |
| loosed | released, set free | let go or unleashed | loost |
| Spiritus Mundi | world spirit, collective spirit | the collective consciousness or spirit of the world | spir-i-tus mun-dee |
| vexed | disturbed, troubled | annoyed or agitated | vekst |
| slouches | moves lazily, shuffles | walks or moves in a lazy way | slouch-ez |
| Bethlehem | a town, birthplace of Jesus | a town in Judea, traditionally known as the birthplace of Jesus | beth-li-hem |
| conviction | certainty, strong belief | firm belief or confidence | kon-vik-shun |
| pitiless | merciless, without pity | showing no mercy or compassion | pit-i-less |
| indignant | angry, offended | feeling or showing anger at something unjust | in-dig-nant |
| revelation | disclosure, unveiling | a surprising and previously unknown fact | rev-e-la-shun |
| stony | stone-like, hard | resembling stone in hardness | stone-ee |
| nightmare | bad dream, terrifying experience | a frightening or unpleasant dream | night-mare |
| cradle | baby's bed, origin | a small bed for an infant | kray-dl |
William Butler Yeats was an Irish poet and one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was a driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival and won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1923. Yeats was known for his modernist and lyrical poetry, influenced by Irish legends and the occult.
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