The Second Coming by William Butler Yeats

This image also suggests that similar to the falcon that is flying around in a "widening gyre, society has wandered too far away from its morals and is doomed with curruption. Yeats continues his cynical tone with "everywhere the ceremony of innocenc...

Thus, the poem “The Second Coming” came about. The poem begins with a horrifying scene as “things fall apart” as the falcon which symbolizes evilness, turns to the “widening gyre”. This creates a terrifying timidity in the reader from the beginning. The first stanza further goes along to instigate more frightening feeling as goodness is sinking down when the speaker says, “innocence is drowned”. On the other hand, the evildoers or “the worst are full of passionate intensity”.

Additionally, the widening of the tornado-like gyre parallels the intensity of the old world's present chaos. As the spiral of the gyre grows, the falcon (line 2) flies higher and higher where it can no longer hear its master, thus signaling the crumbling of the natural order of the world. The "center [of the gyre] can no longer hold." The symbolic occurrence of the gyre's ongoing function further shows to replenish itself by the arrival of the "rough beast" which marks the beginning of the new era. Furthermore, the hovering of the "indignant desert birds" symbolizes the formation of the new gyre, which begins as a small compact spiral, just as the previous one once was.

The lines "The falcon cannot hear the falconer", "the center cannot hold" and "mere anarchy is loosed upon the world" show the disintegration of our society. He follows this with the description of a "blood-dimmed tide", which could represent war tearing apart our civil world. It seems Yeats wishes to show us that we are approaching an inevitable end to humanity as we know it. In the second stanza, we are introduced to the second coming. However it does not appear to be the Savior for our problems.

The metaphor has two possible interpretations. One view may be that the falcon represents society and the falconer represents God and morality. By saying “The falcon cannot hear the falconer,” Yeats may be implying that society has lost sight of God and has lost the values and morals once held in place by the strong obedience to God. In another interpretation, Yeats may be saying that the falcon represents a war and the falconer represents the military power that has unleashed it to the point where all control is lost and faith in God has been abandoned. The next line of the poem explains this process; “things fall apart” indicates that the runaway war has sparked disorder in the public.

The hopelessness of mankind is addressed by Keats’ statement that man cannot save us, God cannot save us, and the question: If man and God can’t save us, then what is going to happen to us? In lines 1-2, Keats discusses a widening gyre, a ring or circle. The widening gyre represents the gyre spinning out of control and this circle growing wider and wider with society in it. O’Brien says, “The ‘widening gyre’ describes not only the circular, ever-widening course of the falcon’s flight. It also refers to an important aspect of Yeats’ theory of history.

Pi’s boat sinks due to harsh weather. Pi “faced the elements” he described it as “A spectacle of wind and water, an earthquake of the senses that even Hollywood couldn’t orchestrate” (Martel 113). The author Martel uses a metaphor in this quote, he compared the earthquake to Hollywood. This quote describes how unpleasant nature was. Pi had to face the obstacle of nature to move on.

Where is this daughter?" - He's done a stupid thing and now it starts to affect him physically. Development to Lear's insanity occurs in the storm scene (Act 2, Scene 4). "I have full cause of weeping. O fool, I shall go mad!"

Cummings and William Butler Yeats express their premonitions about when and why this awesome event may occur. Both prophetize about the horrific destruction of the world in their poems, "what if a much of a which of a wind" and "The Second Coming"; however, Cummings and Yeats disagree on the final cause of this destruction. While both utilize graphic imagery, stark contrast, and unique syntax to warn their readers about the evils of mankind, Cummings predicts society's irresponsible use of technology will engender the world's end, while Yeats believes that men themselves, the "worst full of passionate intensity," will ultimately cause the downfall of civilization. Cummings' use of intense and somewhat disturbing imagery in his poem "what if a much of a which of a wind" urges readers to realize the extent of the devastation caused by catastrophic, preventable, destruction. The first stanza of the poem, describing images such as the sun "bloodying the leaves", evokes terror in the reader.

[...] Tess became splashed from face to skirt with the crimson drops.” The death of the Prince symbolizes nature’s suffering at the mercy of advancing technology. Arguably, Tess also imposes on nature by using the horse for transportation. However, Hardy is more concerned with the irresponsible haste of techological innovation that was destroying the natural world during the early 20th century. To this end, Abraham later remarks that, “Tis because we be on a blighted star, and not a sound one, isn't it, Tess?" implying that the horse’s death occurred because our relationship with nature is growing increasingly unstable.