Write a critical appreciation of the poem “The Second Coming.”

Answer

Write a critical appreciation of the poem “The Second Coming.”

B. Yeats (1865-1939) was a great Irish poet. He saw the world changing fast. He believed that history moves in circles. In his poem “The Second Coming” (1920), Yeats talks about a dark future. He saw that war and violence were breaking the world. This poem is full of fear and mystery. Yeats wrote this poem just after World War I. People were shocked and lost. Yeats felt that something terrible was coming. In this poem, he shows that old values are dying and a new dark age is beginning.

Central Idea of the Poem: The main idea of the poem is the fall of the old world and the coming of a new, terrible power. Yeats believed that when one age ends, a new one begins. But the new one may not be good. At the start of the poem, Yeats writes:

“Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold.”

This means the world is breaking. Rules and order are gone. People have lost control. Then he says:

“The best lack all conviction, while the worst 

Are full of passionate intensity.”

Good people are silent. Bad people are loud and strong. This is dangerous. Yeats thinks something new is coming. But it is not the second coming of Jesus Christ. It is something dark and strange. He writes:

“And what rough beast, its hour come round at last, 

Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?”

This line is very famous. It means that a new beast-like power is coming. It will be born in Bethlehem, the same place as Christ. But it is not a saviour. It brings fear, not hope. So, the poem shows the end of peace and the start of chaos. It is about fear of the unknown future.

Form, Meter, Rhyme Scheme: The poem has 2 stanzas. The lines do not follow a fixed rhyme scheme. The meter is mostly iambic,