Yeat's The Second Coming: A Deep Dive

Using New Criticism to explore the meaning behind W.B. Yeats' The Second Coming.

December 11, 2022

The Second Coming is a poem written by W.B. Yeats in 1919, that has since gained both popularity and literary significance. By looking at the poem in-depth, through a school of literary criticism, more insight can be gained into its meaning. While one could argue that almost any of the schools could be used to create observations about Yeats's poetry, New Criticism can be most essential in this case.  

New Criticism focuses on the technical aspects of the text, and the hidden meanings within the text. Critics who use New Criticism can discover a deeper meaning behind Yeats’s writing and find the symbolism in it. When using New Criticism, the author’s biography and historical events surrounding the piece are not considered. Instead, the work is left to speak for itself. In this school of criticism, literary devices are the most notable features of a piece.  

One of the first elements to observe in The Second Coming is that there is no rhyme scheme present in the piece. Lines 9 and 10 repeat the same ending words “at hand”, but this is added for emphasis rather than to fit into a pattern of rhyme or rhythm. The poem is composed of 22 of these non-rhyming lines. All of them fit into a rhythm of either 10,11, or 12 syllables, which gives the poem a certain rhythmic quality when it is read aloud.  

Another thing that stands out about this poem is that the title is found within the work itself. In line 10, “Surely the Second Coming is at hand,” and in line 11, “The Second Coming...”. Repeating that key phrase shows it is the poem's main theme, or thesis. The words “at hand” being repeated at the end of two lines in a row shows parallelism between the two lines. Yeats says that “some revelation” and “the Second Coming” are both at hand. This shows the reader that these two events are together, they are connected.  

In line 12, Yeats uses the phrase “Spiritus Mundi” - which is Latin and translates to “spirit of the world”. Latin is a dead language that was used in ancient times. Although this poem refers to the Second Coming, that insinuates that there was at some point a First Coming. Since the Second Coming alludes to an apocalyptic, Revelation event, the First Coming alludes to the birth of Jesus. There are other clues found within the poem that allude to this. “Towards Bethlehem to be born” (line 22), can be interpreted as a reference towards Jesus being born in Bethlehem, as told in the Bible. Line 20’s use of “rocking cradle” also brings up imagery of a baby, which further builds the connection of the First Coming being baby Jesus. In line 13, the phrase “somewhere in the sands of the desert” fits in well with the allusions to Jesus’ birth, since Jesus grew up in a Middle Eastern, desert climate.  

William Butler Yeats employs irony throughout the poem, although not in a humorous or sarcastic way. The previously mentioned allusions to the birth of Jesus are built throughout the poem, however, this poem is not about the birth of Jesus. Instead, it subverts the joy-filled anticipation of advent to reveal that something sinister is coming. The darkness of this Second coming is hinted at in the first stanza, through descriptions like “mere anarchy” (line 4), “the blood-dimmed tide” (line 5), and “the ceremony of innocence is drowned” (line 6). These macabre descriptions guide the reader toward an uneasy conclusion that something unpleasant is coming.  

The “widening gyre” (line 1) is used as a metaphor for the way that the world is spinning out of control. A gyre is a spinning pattern of water, and a widening gyre would be visually akin to a large tropical storm. The centre, which “cannot hold” (line 3), is the eye of the storm. Following this metaphor, the storm is expanding wider and wider until it will eventually collapse, unable to be contained within a circular pattern.  

In conclusion, these literary devices show a deeper meaning to William Butler Yeats's work, The Second Coming. Metaphors, irony, and allusions all point towards the true theme of this poem, that the world is spinning towards its end.  

Works Cited:

Curley, Jon. "In The Shadow Of Yeats: Tradition, Reaction, And Renewal." Critical Insights:

Cultural Encounters, edited by Nicholas Birns, Salem Press, 2012. Salem Online,

Yeats, W.B. “The Second Coming”. The Collected Poems of W.B. Yeats, 1989.