“The Second Coming”
By: William Butler Yeats
Vocabulary Words
Gyre:
Anarchy:
Conviction:
Revelation:
Indignant:
Vexed:
Allusions
Blood-dimmed tide
Revelation
Second Coming
Spiritus Mundi
Shape of lion and the head of a man (stony sleep)
Slouched toward Bethlehem
Images
The falcon and the falconer
Also, see allusions
Tone
Prophetic
Who is the prophet?
What is the answer to the riddle at the end of the poem?
Who is the riddler?
Other information:
Yeats, himself, described this poem as a reaction to the “growing murderous of the
world”. World War II and the Black and Tan were influences of this idea. How doe sthe
information help you interpret the prophecy?