Compare and contrast 'Prayer Before Birth' and 'The Second Coming'

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Compare and contrast 'Prayer Before Birth' and 'The Second Coming.'

        The Second Coming was written by Yeats in the early 20th century, during the aftermath of the First World War. This event has clearly shaped the view of the poem, causing it to be a very cynical reminder of the birth and sacrifice of Jesus. Yeats believed that the world was on the threshold of an apocalyptic revelation, as history reached the end of one age, but was greeted by the characters of the next. The poem shows the contrary forces at work in history and brings the conflict between the ancient and modern world to life.

         Prayer Before Birth, written at the height of the second world war also has a religious overtone to it, and the unborn foetus is used as a metaphor for Christ. In this poem, MacNeice emphasizes how harsh and ruthless the world is and how it has the ability to strip even and unborn baby of its innocence. The poem shows the ways of the world the 'baby' is soon to enter from a 'clean slate' point of view; the child in the womb that is given a voice has the wonders of the world laid out ahead of it, but its fate has not yet been written.

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        The Second Coming is written in a rough iambic pentameter but the meter is so loose that the poem in fact seems to be closer to free verse. Imagery plays a big part in Yeats' poem and the first image with which we are presented is an image of disaster; a falcon cannot hear the call of safety, and begins to spiral wider and wider, more out of control. "Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold". What is the centre of the spiral? Yeats might be referring to a society out of control. "Mere anarchy" could mean many things; maybe ...

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