Turning and turning in the widening gyre The falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere The ceremony of innocence is drowned; The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity.
Surely some revelation is at hand; Surely the Second Coming is at hand. The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert A shape with lion body and the head of a man, A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun, Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds. The darkness drops again; but now I know That twenty centuries of stony sleep Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle, And what rough beast, its hour come round at last, Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?
It was a very dark time for Yeats.
The poem was written in 1919 in the aftermath of the First World War and the beginning of the Irish War of Independence in January 1919, which followed the Easter Rising in April 1916, and before the British government had decided to send in the Black and Tans to Ireland. Yeats used the phrase “the second birth” instead of “the Second Coming” in his first drafts.
The First World War was horrific: trench warfare, chemical weapons, the introduction of machine guns, enormous military and civilian casualties.
Of the 60 million European military personnel who were mobilised from 1914 to 1918, an estimated 8 million were killed, 7 million were permanently disabled, and 15 million were seriously injured. Germany lost 15.1% of its active male population, Austria-Hungary lost 17.1%, and France lost 10.5%. France mobilised 7.8 million men, of which 1.4 million died and 3.2 million were injured. Approximately 15,000 deployed men sustained gruesome injuries to the face, causing social stigma and marginalisation; they were called the gueules cassées. In Germany, civilian deaths were 474,000 higher than in peacetime, due in large part to food shortages and malnutrition that had weakened disease resistance. These excess deaths are estimated as 271,000 in 1918, plus another 71,000 in the first half of 1919 when the blockade was still in effect. Starvation caused by famine killed approximately 100,000 people in Lebanon.
Landscape
Diseases flourished in the chaotic wartime conditions. In 1914 alone, louse-borne epidemic typhus killed 200,000 in Serbia. Starting in early 1918, a major influenza epidemic known as Spanish flu spread across the world, accelerated by the movement of large numbers of soldiers, often crammed together in camps and transport ships with poor sanitation. The Spanish flu killed at least 17 to 25 million people, including an estimated 2.64 million Europeans and as many as 675,000 Americans. Between 1915 and 1926, an epidemic of encephalitis lethargica spread across the world affecting nearly five million people.
The poem is also connected to the 1918–1919 flu pandemic. In the weeks preceding Yeats′s writing of the poem, his pregnant wife, Georgie Hyde-Lees, caught the virus and was very close to death, but she survived. The highest death rates of the pandemic were among pregnant women, who in some areas had a death rate of up to 70%. Yeats wrote the poem while his wife was convalescing.
This poem resonates strongly with the world of today.
The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity.
And they will know we are Christians by our love, our love.
A Gaze Blank and Pitiless as the Sun
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun
This line emphasizes the merciless and indifferent nature of the creature. The sun, often a symbol of life and warmth, is here described as “blank and pitiless,” suggesting an overwhelming force that is devoid of compassion or humanity. The gaze of the sphinx is unfeeling, reinforcing the theme of an impending force that cares nothing for human concerns or morality.
Elder G
For those of you who want to go down a very weird and disturbing rabbit hole, you will be guided by neuroscientist, evolutionary biologist, and biomedical scientist Dr. Emily Casanova….
The intrigue: [The Harris Poll]s’ research also suggests that many Americans are “consuming in denial” — continuing to spend and run up credit card bills even though they’re short on cash — and that “they’re looking to deflect some of the blame” to leaders in government, said John Gerzema, CEO of The Harris Poll.
“There’s a sense of entitlement, that Americans feel like, ‘We’re worth it, so I might change my vote but I’m not going to change my lifestyle,'” Gerzema said.
Axios Vibes: America’s unhappiest people, by Margaret Talev
Margaret Talev
Margaret is the managing editor for politics at Axios and a CNN political analyst.
somewhere in sands of the desert A shape with lion body and the head of a man, A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun
“Somewhere in sands of the desert” This opening line of the phrase places the reader in a barren, desolate environment. The desert often symbolizes emptiness, isolation, and the harshness of nature, reinforcing the theme of a world devoid of stability and comfort.
“A shape with lion body and the head of a man” Here, Yeats conjures the image of a sphinx, an ancient symbol often associated with riddles, mystery, and the guardianship of sacred spaces. The sphinx is both powerful and enigmatic, suggesting a force that is beyond human understanding or control. The combination of a lion’s body with a human head also hints at the fusion of primal instincts with intellectual or spiritual elements, creating a creature that is both physically and mentally formidable.
“A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun” This line emphasizes the merciless and indifferent nature of the creature. The sun, often a symbol of life and warmth, is here described as “blank and pitiless,” suggesting an overwhelming force that is devoid of compassion or humanity. The gaze of the sphinx is unfeeling, reinforcing the theme of an impending force that cares nothing for human concerns or morality.
Overall, this imagery contributes to the poem’s theme of an impending apocalypse, where the old order is disintegrating, and a new, terrifying force is emerging. The sphinx-like creature embodies this new, indifferent power that is rising to take the place of the familiar world. It’s a powerful reflection of the anxieties of Yeats’ time, as he grappled with the aftermath of World War I, the rise of totalitarian regimes, and personal turmoil.
Elder G
Slouches towards Bethlehem
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle, And what rough beast, its hour come round at last, Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?
These lines from “The Second Coming” are among the most famous and enigmatic in Yeats’ poem. They evoke a powerful and disturbing image, full of symbolic meaning and existential dread.
“Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle” This line suggests that something innocent or comforting—represented by the cradle—has been twisted into something horrifying. The cradle, typically associated with infancy and new life, here becomes a source of unease, as if the world itself is disturbed by what is coming.
“And what rough beast, its hour come round at last” The “rough beast” is a chilling image that contrasts sharply with the idea of the gentle, divine savior traditionally associated with Bethlehem. The phrase implies that something brutal and uncivilized, long dormant or awaiting its moment, is now ready to emerge. The use of “rough” suggests a lack of refinement, a primal or animalistic force that is powerful but not benevolent.
“Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?” The image of the beast “slouching” towards Bethlehem is one of the most haunting in the poem. Bethlehem, known as the birthplace of Jesus, represents a place of hope and renewal. However, the arrival of this beast suggests a perversion of that hope—a dark, apocalyptic event that marks the birth of something destructive rather than redemptive. The verb “slouches” implies an inevitability, a slow, deliberate movement towards a fated event that cannot be stopped.
Elder G
A Musical Recommendation from Elder G
Ralph Vaughan Williams – Symphony No. 3, “Pastoral” (1922)
This symphony was inspired by Vaughan Williams’ experiences as an ambulance driver during World War I. Though not a traditional war symphony, its serene and reflective character has been interpreted as a memorial to the war’s victims. The third movement, in particular, has a haunting, elegiac quality.
Elder G
Reference: Elder G and the Psychological State Following Trauma
It is a common psychological phenomena to create a dark world view in response to personal tragedy. Elder G helps us explore this.
WLBOTT: There are so many interesting aspects to this poem. Yeats was at a very low point in his life – the end of the First World War, and his pregnant wife was very sick with the Spanish flu. Is there a psychological phenomena where people believe there will be a global collapse when things go bad at a personal level? Is this a form of projection?
Elder G: Yes, there is a psychological phenomenon where individuals project their personal anxieties and fears onto the broader world, perceiving or expecting a global or societal collapse when things are going poorly in their own lives. This can be understood through a few different psychological lenses:
1. **Projection**: In a Freudian sense, projection involves attributing one’s own unwanted feelings or thoughts onto others or the outside world. When someone is experiencing intense personal distress, they might project these feelings outward, perceiving global events as mirroring their internal turmoil. This could explain why someone like Yeats, during a time of personal and societal crisis, might have written a poem that envisions a broader, apocalyptic collapse.
2. **Catastrophizing**: This cognitive distortion involves expecting the worst possible outcome, often disproportionate to the actual situation. When someone is already feeling overwhelmed by personal issues, their ability to maintain perspective can be compromised, leading them to believe that broader disaster is inevitable.
3. **Existential Anxiety**: During times of personal crisis, individuals might experience heightened existential anxiety, where they question the meaning and stability of their lives. This can lead to a broader sense of doom, where the instability in their personal life feels reflective of a larger, inevitable collapse.
4. **Confirmation Bias**: When people are under stress, they are more likely to notice and remember information that confirms their fears and anxieties. If someone is already feeling like things are falling apart, they might be more attuned to negative news or global events that reinforce their belief in an impending collapse.
Yeats’ “The Second Coming” is a reflection of his own personal and societal anxieties during a time of significant upheaval. The poem’s themes of chaos, the breakdown of order, and the birth of something ominous can be seen as an artistic expression of these psychological processes.
