The next four lines are pack chalk full of meaning relating specifically to the political climate of Ireland at the time that Yeats was writing. “The Second Coming” was written during the midst of the Irish civil war fought in 1921. The war fought over the conditions of the peace treaty that had come at the end of the Anglo-Irish war which last from 1919 to 1921. It was fought between the newly formed army of the Irish Free State and a renegade wing of Irish Republic Alliance irregulars. (Moses 58) The references to anarchy had a potent poignancy to those living in the anarchist state that was Ireland at this point in history:
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.
“The blood-dimmed tide” is an obvious reference to the series of wars that had been fought and were continuing to be fought as Yeats wrote.
The phrase, “The ceremony of innocence is drowned;” is a very interesting line. It does not suggest a loss of innocence. It does say that one can longer feign innocence to the problems between Ireland and England because of the bloody war that had erupted.
In the next two lines Yeats makes one of the most profound statements of political activism that has ever been put onto paper. He states that, “The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity.” He was incredibly qualified to speak on the issue of passion for right and actively participating in what one believes in. Yeats had no qualms about using his notoriety as a writer to push his political causes, and he was very influential in the push that eventually led to Irish independence in 1922. He was also a great friend of Irish nationalist John O’Leary who had been sentenced by the British to 20 years servitude in 1865 for treason against the Crown. (Moses 59) He skillfully laments the fact in these lines that those who push towards a goal for the worst motivations seem to be incredibly passionate while those who truly have the best interests of other’s at heart tend to be too passive.
Yeats’ Anglo-Irish Protestant childhood comes into play in the next line as he begins to make reference to the Biblical book of Revelations and the second coming of Christ:
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 of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight:
These five lines are a clear reference to the apocalyptic writings of the New Testament of the Bible. According to Christian teachings, the second coming of Christ will be preceded by wars, bloodshed and anarchy.
The emphasis here should not be placed upon the coming of Christ that is taught by the Christian faith. The emphasis is rather on the war, bloodshed, and anarchy that is so horribly that, “Surely the Second Coming is at hand.” This is a round about, yet powerful way of describing the violence of Ireland during the period in which Yeats was writing.
Yeats next launches into a description of an incredible beast, that could be taken as another reference to the Biblical book of Revelation because of his mention of a second coming:
Somewhere in the 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 indignant desert birds.
While the beast does fit in with the apocalyptic theme, it is another metaphor of the conflict between England and Ireland.
Those reading Yeats at the time of his writing would be likely to draw a connections to a poem of similar apocalyptic nature written by Rossetti around the same period titled “The Burden of Ninevah.” In it Rossetti describes London as “this desert place.” In “The Burden of Ninevah” Rossetti describes another beast, apocalyptic in nature. Instead of a bull, as Rossetti describes, Yeats’ pointedly describes a beast that is a lion with a man’s head. The lion invokes imperial England. It is the animal of choice for that nation and has been since the Richard I took it as his emblem. The leonine statuary of the city of London leaves one with no doubt as to what the national animal is. (Cervo 94)
The analogy between the beast and imperial England is seen further as Yeats paints a picture of the lion’s eyes. They stare blankly and are pitiless as the sun. We already have desert imagery at work in the poem. The desert sun has pity for no man or beast. It burns up all that is under its blazing gaze. The sightless eyes are in reference to England’s careless use of power to subjugate weaker nations in order to bring economic prosperity. A feeling of blindness by those in power is a feeling that all men and women under authority have felt at times. To Yeats, England’s blindness to the plight of those experience its colonial weight was particularly glaring.
Yeats uses the phrase, “moving its slow thighs” to create a sense of the size and power of English might. It is a vast empire moving slowly over the desert, seeking its own satisfaction at the expense of those less powerful.
The reeling desert birds can be viewed in two different ways. One might view the birds as those following the path of the beast in order to strip the carcasses that are left behind for their own profit. The birds might also be seen as representative of the birds of scavenging that always follow where there has been war and death.
Yeats ends the poem with some amazingly deep and interesting lines. Many conclusions can be drawn from their reading:
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 around at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?
Again there is heavy references to Christian traditions in the last lines of this poem. The darkness drops signals an end, to both the vision of the beast and possibly the end of time.
“Twenty centuries of stony sleep,” is a direct reference to the time elapsed since the traditional ascension of Christ to the heavens. The significance is that two-thousand years have passed, and the result of all this time is the raising of a Christian nation to terrorize the world with its power.
The poem ends with the beast slouching towards Bethlehem. There is a high sense of irony and satire in these last lines. Bethlehem is of course the birth place of Christ and therefore the Christian religion. This is a religion that teaches peace and equality for all men. Yeats executes a complete moral reversal of the typical meaning given to the word Bethlehem. His reference is not to the city of David in which Christ was born, angels sang, and shepherds worshipped. It is a reference to the Hospital of St. Mary of Bethlehem, at the time the largest insane asylum in the world. Consequently it was also the largest insane asylum in London, England. (Cervo 94)
“The Second Coming” is a poem that can be read and interpreted in many different ways. Much meaning can be drawn for the analogies and metaphor used by Yeats. It could actually be read as an apocalyptic poem pointing towards the return of Christ to earth, but when looked upon with just a small knowledge of Yeats life, the times in which he lived, and the conflicts and struggles of his nation, it becomes quite evident that this poem is a poignant protest of abuse of power. It is a protest specifically against the abuse of power by imperial England.
Works Cited
Allison, Jonathan. “W.B. Yeats, Space and Cultural Nationalism.” ANQ Fall (2001): 155-68.
Cahill, Elizabeth. “Ireland’s Poet.” Commonweal Vol. 126 Issue 14 (2000): 20-31.
Cervo, Nathan. “Yeats’ Second Coming.” Explicator Winter (2001): 93-98.
Hyman, Randall. “Yeats’ Land of Verse.” British Heritage April/May (2000): 44-49.
Moses, Michael. “The Poet as Politician.” Reason Feb. (2001): 58-63.
