Biography: William Butler Yeats

Irish poet, playwright, and nobel prize winner, William Butler Yeats, was born in Dublin in 1865. His father was a lawyer/artist and his mother came from a wealthy family from County Sligo (“William Butler Yeats” 1). Although he spent his childhood split between Dublin and London, Yeats considered his Irish heritage as an important element of his identity, which is evident in his poetry (Markey 36). During his college years, he attended the Metropolitan School of Art in Dublin. The most impactful part of his education was meeting other writers and authors like George Bernard Shaw, William Earnest Henley, and Oscar Wilde who served as an inspiration and encouragement to him (Frank 1). Shortly after his university years, he met Maud Gonne, who he loved and viewed as his muse, although she refused to marry him (“Biography” 1). 

W. B. Yeats is considered the most significant contributor to the Irish literary renaissance. In 1894 he met Lady Augusta Gregory, with whom he founded the Irish Literary Theatre in Dublin, which was later named the National Theatre of Ireland. This theater became home to the leading Irish playwrights and actors (“William Butler Yeats” 1). The plays at this theater celebrated Irish folklore and ended up sparking a literary movement within Ireland. Ann Markey explains, “Irish folklore can underpin a literary renaissance by providing imaginative inspiration for a modern, rational, materialistic world crying out for rejuvenation by an ancient spirituality... led to the development of a distinctly Irish drama (36).”

In addition to being a major player in the Irish literary renaissance, Yeats was also considered an Irish Nationalist. He lived during a time of great turmoil in Ireland. Parts of Ireland were still loyal to British rule, while some factions wanted to break off and become their own nation. This turmoil and uncertainty about the future is definitely evident in Yeats’ “The Second Coming.” “Yeats devoted himself to literature and drama, believing that poems and plays would engender a national unity capable of transfiguring the Irish nation” (“William Butler Yeats” 1). 

Another significant factor in W. B. Yeats’ life was religion. He rejected Catholicism, the majority religion in Ireland, and instead embraced a religion that was all his own. In 1925, he wrote A Vision, which describes his religion - a complicated mix of “the occult, spiritualism fairy life and fairy tales, paganism, magic, seances, psychic phenomena, Eastern religion, Blavatsky, mysticism, and William Blake” (Frank 1). A huge part of his philosophy was that history is cyclical, which is major theme in his poem “The Second Coming.” 

Yeats ended up marrying Georgie Hyde Lees in 1917. They had two children - Anne and Michael. He also was elected to the Irish senate in 1922 and served for six years (“William Butler Yeats” 2). He was awarded a nobel prize for his literature in 1923. Interestingly, he produced his greatest work later in his life, between the ages of fifty and seventy-three, which is very rare for a poet. He died in 1939 at the age of seventy-three. His gravestone is inscribed with the epitaph “Cast a cold Eye, On Life, On Death, Horseman pass by!” (“William Butler Yeats” 3).

Annotation

Turning and turning in the widening gyre (1) (2)

The falcon (3) cannot hear the falconer (4) (5);

Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;

Mere anarchy (6) is loosed upon the world (7),

The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere

The ceremony of innocence is drowned (8);

The best lack all conviction (9), while the worst

Are full of passionate intensity.

Surely some revelation is at hand (10); 

Surely the Second Coming is at hand (11);

The Second Coming (12)! Hardly are those words out 

When the vast image out of Spiritus Mundi (13)

Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert

A shape with lion body and the head of a man,

A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,

Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it 

Reel shadows of indignant (14) desert birds (15).

The darkness drops again; but now I know

That twenty centuries of stony sleep (16)

Were vexed (17) to nightmare by a rocking cradle,

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

Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born? (18)

¹ Gyre: a circular course or motion (“Gyre”)

² In W.B. Yeats’ philosophy, history is composed into two gyres. The first gyre is accompanied by a diminishing gyre which reaches its minimum at the same time as the first reaches its widest extent. Each gyre equals roughly two thousand years (Mann 1)

³ “I suppose that I must have put hawks into the fourth stanza because I have a ring with a hawk and a butterfly upon it, to symbolize the straight road of logic, and so of mechanism, and the crooked road of intention: ‘for wisdom is a butterfly and not a gloomy bird of prey’” (Weeks 288 qt. from The Collected Poems).

⁴ Falconer: a person who hunts falcons (“Falconer”)

⁵ In Yeat’s poem, The Wild Swan, the bird will also “not hear the falconer” (same line) (Weeks 288).

⁶ Anarchy: confusion, chaos, disorder (“Anarchy”)

⁷ W.B. Yeats believed the era of Christianity was passing. “The Christian era was about the ability to predict the future: the New Testament clearly foretold the second coming of Christ. In the post-Christian era of which Yeats was writing, there was no Bible to map out what the next ‘coming’ would be” (Cohen 2).

⁸ “The phrase ‘The ceremony of innocence’ is linked to a poem from later in 1919, ‘A Prayer for my Daughter’, where the poet asks “How but in custom and ceremony/ Are innocence and beauty born?’” (Mann 1).

⁹ Yeats once wrote, “I took satisfaction in certain public disasters, felt sort of ecstasy at the contemplation of ruin” (Cohen 2).

¹⁰ This poem was written in 1919, after WW1, Ireland was headed toward civil war, a revolution had just toppled the old Russia (Cohen 1).

¹¹ Yeats believed 1927 was the “Great Year,” where the world must “reverse our era and resume past eras in itself” (Weeks 287, qt. from The Vision).

¹² Yeat’s religion = theosophy and the occult. He thought the Christian “era” was coming to an end (Cohen 1).

¹³ Spiritus Mundi = “spirit of the world” (Cohen 2).

¹⁴ Indignant: strong displeasure at something considered unjust, unpleasant, insulting or base (“Indignant”)

¹⁵ Another reference to falcons

¹⁶ 20 centuries = 2000 years = 1 gyre

¹⁷ Vex: to irritate, annoy, provoke; to discuss or debate with vigor or at great length (“Vex”)

¹⁸ Now that the “Christian era” is coming to an end, Yeats believed there was certainty about the future

Context of "The Second Coming"

       William Butler Yeats wrote The Second Coming in 1919, shortly after World War 1 ended. WW1 was such a horrific war, Ireland was headed towards a civil war, and a revolution had just toppled the old Russia (Cohen 1). It is easy to see why Yeats felt that the world was going through a significant time of change. In fact, Yeats believed that 1927 would be “The Great Year” where the world would enter into a new era (Weeks 287). 

Yeats believed in a cyclical view of history, which he envisioned as two gyres, one of them inverted. Time spins along a diminishing gyre, and it reaches its minimum at the same time the second gyre reaches its maximum point. Each gyre represents about two thousand years. So essentially there are two thousand years of peace and then two thousand years of chaos (Mann 1). Yeats believed WWI was the beginning of this chaos. Unlike the Christian era which was very predictable, this new era was to be completely unpredictable, but definitely full of anarchy and confusion.

Yeats was a huge supporter of Irish nationalism. As previously mentioned, Ireland was headed towards a civil war. Most of Ireland was still loyal to great Britain, but factions wanted Ireland to become its own nation (Dasenbrock 1262). Perhaps since Yeats believed the world was heading towards anarchy and chaos, he felt Ireland becoming its own nation was part of that era. Yeats even once wrote, “I took satisfaction in certain public disasters, felt sort of ecstasy at the contemplation of ruin” (qt. in Cohen 2). Yeats had a passion for traditional Irish folklore and was a huge contributor to the Irish Literary movement in the late 1800s. One of Yeats’ major influences was John O’Leary, who was a father figure to him. O’Leary was editor of The Irish People and a fellow Irish nationalist. He was convicted of treason in 1865 and spent two decades in jail, before returning to Ireland and becoming a major influence on Yeats, for both his political views and his writing style.

Thesis

       At first glance, The Second Coming by W.B. Yeats appears to be referring to the return of Jesus Christ because of references to a “rocking cradle” and “Bethlehem.” However, a more thorough understanding of Yeats’ religion beliefs and the context of this poem reveal that even Yeats himself did not understand exactly what the Second Coming would entail. The Second Coming is less concerned with Christ's second coming and His rebirth, and more concerned with the death of the idea of Christ and the Christian ideal.

In 1925, Yeats wrote A Vision, which describes his religion - a complicated mix of “the occult, spiritualism fairy life and fairy tales, paganism, magic, seances, psychic phenomena, Eastern religion, Blavatsky, mysticism, and William Blake” (Frank 1). To Yeats, a gyre was a cyclical cosmic force which governed all events (drawn from his interest in Hinduism) and drew everything into a cycle of apocalypse and rebirth. Each gyre represents about two thousand years (Mann 1). At the time Yeats wrote this poem, he believed time was reaching the end of one gyre and everything would be reborn. 

Yeats believed society is no exception to this rebirth. The poem relates his own belief that Christian society is at its apocalypse and will be replaced. Yeats believed the Christian era, defined by peace and predictability, was quickly ending and would be replaced by an era of uncertainty and chaos. He believed WWI was the beginning of this chaos. Unlike the Christian era which was very predictable, this era had no Bible to map out what was coming next. The world would just have to wait to see what “rough beast” would arrive. 

Emotional Response

      

       When first reading The Second Coming by W.B. Yeats, the thing that stood out to me the most was the pessimistic tone of this poem. Yeats managed to make me feel extremely tense and anxious about the uncertainty of the future. He describes the future as a time of anarchy and chaos, where everyone is evil and no one is good. Through reflecting on this poem, I realized how grateful I am to believe in an omniscient, good God who is my hope and my salvation. While I do not know what the future will hold, God does, and I feel extremely safe and comforted because of that.

Yeats certainly did not believe in the Christian God. He made up his own religion, which he explains in his book A Vision. He believed the world was entering a new era marked by anarchy and chaos. No one would be safe and no one could predict what was coming next. Unlike the Christian faith, which looks forward to the second coming of Jesus, Yeats had no hope for the future. 

I feel like my life would be so much more difficult if I lived with Yeats’ philosophy. My ultimate source of encouragement and hope comes from what I believe about God. I believe God is all-knowing and he has a plan for all of Creation, and my life in particular. I believe God is good and trustworthy. These foundational beliefs in God help me see the ultimate picture when myself or those I love are faced with difficult times. I do not know how I would be able to get through life believing that there is no ultimate hope for the world.

Works Cited

Anarchy. (1990). In N. Taparia (Ed.), Oxford dictionary (p.     345, 3rd ed., vol. 5). New York: Oxford Press. 

Cohen, Adam. "What W.B. Yeat's 'Second Coming' Really Says About the Iraq War." New York Times. 12 Feb. 2007. Web. 25 Sept. 2011. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/12/opinion/12mon4.html>.

Dasenbrock, Reed Way. Rev. of Yeats, Ireland and Facism by Elizabeth Cullingford. Comparative Literature 97.5 (1982): 1262-265. JSTOR. Web. 25 Sept. 2011. <http:// www.jstor.org/stable/2906000>.

Falconer. (1990). In N. Taparia (Ed.), Oxford dictionary (p. 345, 3rd ed., vol. 5). New York: Oxford Press.

Frank, Michael. "Yeats, a Poet Who Kept Trying On Different Identities." New York Times. 6 Aug. 1999. Web. 25 Sept. 2011. <http://www.nytimes.com/1999/08/06/books/yeats-

a-poet-who-kept-trying-on-different-identities.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm>.

Gyre. (1990). In N. Taparia (Ed.), Oxford dictionary (p. 345, 3rd ed., vol. 5). New York: Oxford Press.

Gyre, photograph. (2001). Retrieved on November 16, 2011 at http://www.yeatsvision.com/Biblio.html

Indignant. (1990). In N. Taparia (Ed.), Oxford dictionary (p. 345, 3rd ed., vol. 5). New York: Oxford Press.

Irish Nationalism, photograph. (2009). Retrieved on November 16, 2011 at http:// media.photobucket.com/image/irish+revolution+/klp5150/16189228_d6fa35ee11_o.jpg

Mann, Neil. "Second Notes." Yeats Vision. Web. 25 Sept. 2011. <http://www.yeatsvision.com/secondnotes.html>. 

Markey, Anne. "The Discovery of Irish Folklore." New Hibernia Review 10.4 (2006): 21-43. Project Muse. Web. 25 Sept. 2011.

A Vision, photograph. (2005). Retrieved on November 16, 2011 at http://www.google.com/imgres?=yeats+a+vision&um

Vex. (1990). In N. Taparia (Ed.), Oxford dictionary (p. 345, 3rd ed., vol. 5). New York: Oxford Press.

William Butler Yeats, photograph. (1923). Retrieved November 16, 2011 at http:// www.landmark.edu/Library/citation_guides/apa.cfm

Weeks, Donald. "Image and Idea in Yeats' the Second Coming." PMLA 63.1 (1948): 281-92. JSTOR. Web. 25 Sept. 2011. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/459419>.

“William Butler Yeats - Biography”. Nobelprize.org. 7 Oct 2011 http://www.nobelprizes/literature/laureates/1923/yeats-bio.html

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