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Background
• First published in “Dial” in November 1920
• Just after WW1 while still in Europe
• Written a month before “a prayer for my daughter”
• Based on the biblical story of the second coming
• Talks of both mythical and biblical references
• Yeats saw great social troubles all around and remarks on the world spinning out of control
My interpretation
In the time that Yeats speaks of the “rulers” of the world were caught up in expanding circles in which they would do anything to accomplish their goals. This lead to Yeats thinking the second coming of Christ was near. ...
“The ceremony of innocence is drowned”
The innocent world in which we once knew has been forgotten and surely someone is going to help us,
“Surely the second coming is at hand: surely the second coming! ... It is a nightmare of the coming of time. ...
“Reel the shadows of the indignant desert birds”
This is humans who foresee the “second coming” try to stop it but their task is impossible.
Approximate Word count = 718
Approximate Pages = 2.9
(250 words per page double spaced)
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