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The Second Coming of Jesus in W.B. Yeats Poem
Writer: William Butler Yeats
Born: 13 June, 1965
Nationality: Irish
This poem is based on the Christian myth of second coming. The Christians believe in the cyclic history and for them the history moves in the cycle of 2000 years. In every 2000 years, one cycle of history ends and another begins. Towards the end of the first cycle there will be anarchy, blood-shed or the darkness in the world. To end this darkness and anarchy, Christ will take rebirth and bring the day of prosperity. That rebirth of Christ is known as The Second Coming in Christianity.
According to the poet, in the first part of the poem Yeats gives the survey of the now/present world. The anarchy, blood-shed, violence has dominated the world. The best people have been side-lined and the worst people are being chaired in. All those forms of violence are the indications of second coming. Here, Yeats seems to believe in the Christian notion of second coming. The speaker believes that there will be the second coming not of the light (Christ) but of the darkness (violence). After all, the title the second coming itself refers to the symbolic rebirth of the darkness.
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