It is no surprise that W. B. Yeats wrote something as dramatic as The Second Coming given his theatrical history. The visuals that he gives within this poem are nothing slight of dramatic flair. The beginning image of his gyre and the ending image of the sphinx slouching towards Bethlehem, are written so descriptively that you cannot help but see them as you read. This is a great talent of theater directors to turn simple phrases into pictures. But, I’m not going to go into another theater rant this week.
Instead, I want to look at the historical implications this piece had at the time it was written. In January of 1919, World War I had just come to an end three months prior. Most people at this time were hopeful that the war was over, and things were rebuilding. Yeats on the other hand, did not seem so hopeful. He writes this beautiful and haunting poem about how the Second Coming (for non-religious readers this is the second coming of Christ and also considered the end) is here. He writes about a everything falling apart and this sphinx like creature making its way towards Bethlehem. Many people interpret this beast as being a symbol of war or some sort of political change. A great big monster was on its way and Yeats was trying to warn everyone.
As we all know, the time in between World War I and World War II was when the Nazi regime began to rise in power, and it would lead to millions and millions of people dying. Was this the sphinx Yeats wrote of? Did he know all along? Was he a time traveler? We may never know.
