false hope

The Second Coming- William Yeats

Turning and turning in the widening gyre   

The falcon cannot hear the falconer;

Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;

Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,

The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere   

The ceremony of innocence is drowned;

The best lack all conviction, while the worst   

Are full of passionate intensity.

Surely some revelation is at hand;

Surely the Second Coming is at hand.   

The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out   

When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi

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 the indignant desert birds.   

The darkness drops again; but now I know   

That twenty centuries of stony sleep

Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,   

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

Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

Through the poem “The Second Coming,” Yeats explores the idea that we often search for hope in desperate times, but that very hope can lead to our down fall. As the poem opens, it creates an image of being trapped. The subject is “turning and turning in the widening gyre,” as if repeatedly turning around in an attempt to search for a method of escape. The repeated use of turning creates a sense of panic and desperation, adding to the sense of being trapped. This sense is augmented by the disaster that is portrayed in the following lines. The tide floods “everywhere,” displaying the widespread destruction that it brings, while it’s “blood” brings to mind death, emphasizing the extent to which everything has been destroyed. In this situation, the “best” are described as “[lacking] all conviction,” suggesting that this absence of hope in the face of disaster is favorable. Directly contrasted with the “best” are the “worst” that are characterized by “passionate intensity.” Through the similar structure used, “best” is automatically contrasted to “worst” which causes “passionate intensity” to take on the role of being the opposite of “[lacking] all conviction,” suggesting that the “worst,” the least favorable quality, is that of having the hope that the “best” lack.

The fact that hope is so unfavorable and a symptom of ignorance is foreshadowed at the beginning of the poem as those that have hope can be compared with the “falcon” that is unaware of the “falconer.” Assuming that the danger is the disaster that is occurring, they dare to hope. However, the “falconer” that they are unaware of suggests that their hope results from ignorance and that the real danger, the “falconer” is something else. This idea is strengthened as the speaker notes that “mere anarchy” has come upon the world. Anarchy is generally a concept that immediately brings to mind fear and is associated with the disaster that is occurring. However, right before it comes the word “mere,” belittling the power of anarchy and once again suggesting that the true danger lies elsewhere.

As the poem continues, that real danger is seen to be the hope itself. The words used to describe the hope of the “worst” are “the Second Coming,” bringing in the idea of a savior, the Second Coming being the time at which Jesus, the savior in the Christian faith, returns. Through this phrase it becomes clear that the “worst” are hoping that a savior will come to pull them out of the disaster. The “Second Coming” is their hope. However, that very “Second Coming” that is supposed to be their hope is immediately associated with a very different image: “A shape with lion body and the head of a man.” A sphinx. According to Greek mythology, the sphinx was a terrifyingly ruthless monster, an idea supported by the characterization of the sphinx’s gaze a “pitiless.” This new danger is also associated with “darkness,” connecting it to evil and disaster, as well as a “nightmare,” giving it an ethereal quality, as if its terror and “darkness” are so great that it cannot even be considered real.

The fact that the hope, the “Second Coming,” of the people was actually an even greater danger that made the original disaster seem like “mere” anarchy shows the hazard that can be created through hope. The people were waiting for their hope which came to them in the form of a monster, conveying the message that if our hope proves to be false, that hope can cause even greater destruction.