here's the complete text of yeats' poem and some comments
wallyK
The Second Coming
by William Butler Yeats - 1921
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Turning and turning
Within the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer
Things fall apart
The center cannot hold
And a blood dimmed tide
Is loosed upon the world
Nothing is sacred
The ceremony sinks
Innocence is drowned
In anarchy
The best lack conviction
Given some time to think
And the worst are full of passion
Without mercy
Surely some revelation is at hand
Surely it's the second coming
And wrath has finally taken form
For what is this rough beast
Its hour come at last
Slouching towards Bethlehem to be born
Slouching towards Bethlehem to be born
Hoping and hoping
As if by my weak faith
The spirit of this world
Would heal and rise
Vast are the shadows
That straddle and strafe
And struggle in the darkness
Troubling my eyes
Shaped like a lion
It has the head of a man
With a gaze as blank
And pitiless as the sun
And it's moving its slow thighs
Across the desert sands
Through dark indignant
Reeling falcons
Surely some revelation is at hand
Surely it's the second coming
And the wrath has finally taken form
For what is this rough beast
Its hour come at last
Slouching towards Bethlehem to be born
Slouching towards Bethlehem to be born
Raging and raging
It rises from the deep
Opening its eyes
After twenty centuries
Vexed to a nightmare
Out of a stormy sleep
By a rocking cradle
By the Sea of Galilee
Surely some revelation is at hand
Surely it's the second coming
And the wrath has finally taken form
For what is this rough beast
Its hour come at last
Slouching towards Bethlehem to be born
Slouching towards Bethlehem to be born
written 1919, published 1920
Yeats moved from writing about a specific event to generalized notion of
time in "Second Coming" From drafts (that his wife pulled out of the trash),
we know that earlier versions "alluded to the overthrow of the Russian czar
in 1917, to Russia having surrendered a large portion of Eastern Europe to
Germany in 1918, and to the disintegration of the rule of law in Ireland
during 1918 and 1919" (O'Donnell 83).
He removed details and replaced with generalized description of his theory
of 2000-yr cycles of history: "In those cycles, each successive civilization
has values that are diametrically opposed to those of the preceding
civilization, and the onset of each new civilization is announced by the
sudden manifestation of an event, such as Helen of Troy or Christ"
(O'Donnell 83). Yeats thought that after 20 centuries of Christianity, the
world could expect a return to paganism, which would be "utterly alien and
therefore shocking" (83).
The cycles suggested by the gyre (spiral) of the falcon which is too far
away from its handler to hear the commands, and is therefore out of control.
back
-----Mensaje original-----
De: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]En nombre de
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Enviado el: Jueves, 25 de Enero de 2001 06:19 p.m.
Para: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]
CC: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Asunto: "Just Ice" and "Slouching"
In a message dated 1/25/01 9:46:46 AM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
<< I think Mark was pretty accurate when he said that it was just Joni's
statement that the world can be pretty fucked up and that "the balance is
undone". >>
Exactly. I think the thoughts expressed in this song make it a lot like a
modern version of W. B. Yeats' poem "Slouching Toward Bethlehem," which, of
course, Joni turned into a song. (I tried to find Yeats' poem, but I can't.)
Joni's version is slightly different, but the mood is the same.
--Bob
