Florent Lefortier answered
The Second Coming by William Butler Yeats is a modernist poem, written in 1919. It was first published in 1920, in the American magazine The Dial.
What Is The Second Coming About?
The Second Coming compares post-war Europe to the apocalypse. Essentially, the poem uses a Christian allegory to describe the atmosphere in Europe after the First World War had ended.
Why Does William Butler Yeats Compare Post-War Europe To The Apocalypse?
Well, if you think of the apocalypse as the end of the world, then William Butler Yeats is suggesting that the world as he knows it is coming to an end. Everything is different, and the future is still uncertain - although the war has ended, the atmosphere is still pretty hostile.
Unlike the Christian idea of the end of the world, the apocalypse described in The Second Coming doesn't come with the possibility of redemption. Instead, it suggests a weird, alien future which is represented by the sphinx-like creature "with lion body and the head of a man".
What Is The Second Coming About?
The Second Coming compares post-war Europe to the apocalypse. Essentially, the poem uses a Christian allegory to describe the atmosphere in Europe after the First World War had ended.
Why Does William Butler Yeats Compare Post-War Europe To The Apocalypse?
Well, if you think of the apocalypse as the end of the world, then William Butler Yeats is suggesting that the world as he knows it is coming to an end. Everything is different, and the future is still uncertain - although the war has ended, the atmosphere is still pretty hostile.
Unlike the Christian idea of the end of the world, the apocalypse described in The Second Coming doesn't come with the possibility of redemption. Instead, it suggests a weird, alien future which is represented by the sphinx-like creature "with lion body and the head of a man".
