Discuss How Yeats Presents Myth and History in the Second Coming

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Throughout The Second Coming Yeats refers to the myth of the reappearance of Christ as prophesised in the Book of Revelation. Desperation and fear can be seen from the line, “Surely the Second Coming is at hand” as the poet suggests that only the return of Christ can save the world from self-destruction. However, whilst the word “surely” can be seen as a positive sign of reassurance, one could also suggest that it is used to mock religion. The word “surely” can be seen as a form of sarcasm, inferring that that there must be no God if he allowed innocent people to die as a result of World War One. Therefore, this suggests society has lost confidence and belief in religion. When analysing the poem, it can be understood that Yeats infers that history will repeat itself through the image of a “widening gyre”. The Second Coming was written in 1919 in the aftermath of the First Word War. This war was also known as ‘The War to End all Wars’ because it was so terrible that it was hoped that it would be the last. However, the use of “widening gyre” and “tide” highlights a sense of foreboding, suggesting that history will make a reoccurrence and peace will never be restored because society will not learn from its mistakes. From a modern day reader it can be understood that Yeats’ prediction of history was correct as the Second World War began just shortly after the poet’s death. In The Second Coming Yeats creates images of disaster and catastrophe through words such as “anarchy” and “drowned”. The word “anarchy” could refer to the disorder and chaos that was once held back by civilization but as a result of World War One it has now been loosed into the world. Whilst the war had ended shortly before the publishing of the poem, the word “blood-dimmed” suggests that the tragedy of the First World War will never be completely forgotten as the memory of disaster will always

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