Appropriate Analysis
June 19th 2009 04:08
I would like to introduce....
WB Yeats!!
*applause*
While doing credit to Yeats, I must also do credit to the man who introduced him to me. My once english teacher, Mr Garrett. This is the man who taught me to appreciate and analyse, although the analysis Im doing today would be quite different to the one we did in our 3 unit classes.
More and more today, when watching and hearing the news, lines from this poem begin to run through my mind. It is as if it has finally come, and it is not to be, as we thought, a single cataclysmic event that changes and destroys, rather, a long and slow degradation of the fabric that holds our current society together. Lets go through the poems relevancy for our current events, line by line.
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
Now, you may or may not know that Yeats was a bit obsessed with the gyre, the spiral. It features in many of his poems. I have one thing to say about that - Why not? The entirety of life is bound to the cycle, spiral, circle and sphere. One of my favourite books, 'The Loop' by Nicolas Evans has a magnificent quote as its entry, about the cycle of life, that even birds build their nests in circles, as if in honour of the sun and moon that chase each other around the worlds endless turning.
For me, this line is especially relevant right now, as to suggest the 'gyre' is widening, means it is becoming unstable. It is losing its circle, loosening, becoming lines rather than tight spirals. And admirable way of beginning a poem that deals with chaos.
Yeats also suggests that WE - all of us - are turning, and thus may be disorientated. I think it also tends to point out that the spiral becoming unstable is even more disorientating.
The falcon cannot hear the falconer
Simplistic, basic. Signifying that even the simpliest of things are 'out of touch' and that commands that may save the 'hunt' are going unheard. Is 'falcon' chosen because it is a vicious bird of prey? Suggesting violence, blood and hunting? Hawk could also have been chosen, but did you know, in aerial battle, the falcon always conquers the hawk? Though smaller and not so fierce, it is more mobile. Faster. I personally believe Yeats may have chosen 'Falcon' for cadence. You will notice - if you read Yeats work out loud - that the cadence very often comes into iambic pentameter. Not always in this particular poem, but 'Hawk' certainly would have shortened the line. Also, hawks being known as more vicious, may not have had the same connection to man - whereas with 'Falcon' there is a slight softness, as if the connection is desperate to be made, and still cannot be. Perhaps with a hawk, we would have been more inclined to believe it wasnt listening.
Things fall apart, the centre cannot hold
Back to the gyre again - the centre of a spiral and sphere is its most important. If the centre is compromised, the edges inevitably fall. The fairly ambigous 'things fall apart' could relate to anything without the mention of the centre, to remind us of the never ending spiral, which is right now in peril.
mere anarchy is loosed upon the world
One of my most favourite lines in all poetry. MERE anarchy is loosed - suggesting that far worse is to come, suggesting that if you believed anarchy to be terrible than you are about to see worse, so very much suggestion, all in that one word, 'Mere' when it is coupled with 'anarchy'. I also enjoy 'loosed', as if anarchy were something living, like a penned animal, that could be cut free to ravage....Very much like the hobbles on a falcon.
The blood dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
A second useage of 'loosed' throws us. Hmm, when writing, shouldnt we be aware enough, and creative enough, to think of another word? Therefore there must be a reason for it - Yeats is impressing doubly upon us that term of 'loosed' which not only implies the setting free of something living.....But something 'Let go' rather than 'broken free' there is a distinct difference between the two. It did not break free on its own, it was loosed. Also the difference between 'loosed' and 'let go'....Loosed far more represents a crazed and directionless aim, where 'let go' implies something calmer, though not much, it is there. All leading back to the chaos of the first line. Now Yeats gives us blood for real - 'blood dimmed tide'....So would then, the tide be bright if it were not tinged in blood? It is blood dimmed, not soaked or simply blood tide, so there is a suggestion of something beng tainted. The use of 'Tide' is obvious, going straight back to the sense of helplessness against something powerful. Impossible to overcome, inexorable. Cutting into the next line to highten tension.
The ceremony of innocence is drowned
This line seemed to have to start in the previous one so we would not miss the significance of this. However, to what ceremony does he refer? Is it baptisim, communion, reconciliation, or is it something more? The joining of man and woman, of birth? Or is it to display that all and anything innocent shall be drowned by this tainted tide, and the use of 'ceremony' is simply to imply that holiness itself cannot stand against it?
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Here is something that I see everyday. Those who have the best intentions, the purest hearts, who speak the truth, have no power to their words. In this instance of the poem, it is an illustration of chaos, that the best cannot have their points heard, similar to the falconer that cannot call his falcon, but more and more I am seeing this very thing in day to day life. That quite literally and truly, those who have the best ideas cannot bring conviction to their words, which leads to them seeking new words, and that in itself twists their point out of true.
Are full of passionate intensity
The worst full of passionate intensity. Who has not seen this recently? Mob bosses who get away with brutal murder, criminals getting out of jail while those who sought to punish them rot in cells - of course Yeats is making his point, driving it home, if the best have no conviction, then it stands to reason that the worst would have the enticing passion necessary to make their words heard. But this I have seen, every day, that the best cannot have their words heard over the furious intensity of those who have unclean purposes, simply, it seems, because of the volume and emotion connected to it.
Surely some revelation is at hand
I could not agree more, Mr Yeats. Here he refers directly to the book of Revelations which details our beginnings and our ends - the exact definition of revelation being an idea or new realization that eclipses all that has come before it. He cannot name the revelation, a beginning, or an end, he merely gives weight and relevance to the chaos by making it biblical.
Surely the second coming is at hand
Now he names his revelation. The End, where the second coming of Jesus heralds judgment day and the end of the human race. Of course, chaos would ensue at the end of humanity, whether divinity was in charge or not, but Yeats is suggesting something far worse. Nothing, so far, has pointed to any heaven, or even a hint of salvation, for anyone.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
For the first time in the poem Yeats breaks from his dulcid tone to use an exclamation. Excitement is evident in this line - any who have ever believed in Jesus should be excited by the idea of the second coming. Its the day all of christianity has waited for after all. But Yeats gives his caviot - he has more to say about this particular coming.
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Spiritus Mundi. Latin, literal translation, 'Spirit of the world'. Wiki tells me that Yeats believed that all humanity was connected to a vast intelligence, a type of collective conciouss. That this over seeing intelligence - not called God - caused universal symbols to appear in the minds of individuals. This suggests the binding together of humanity, but also, the seperation of each soul from the other, and from this overseeing intelligence. A 'vast image' he says, sent directly from the 'spirit of the world'. Imagine, a spirit of the world. How encompassing it would be, and for it, in itself, to send a 'vast' image to one individual out of billions.
I do remember exploring this idea in my english class. However, my dear Mr Garrett was a devout Catholic, and I was a quickly wandering sheep. I had just broken from the flock, run from the shepard, and at the idea of this, this 'Spiritus mundi' I was quite enchanted. That another Catholic, of all things, could break free into mysitisim as I had done and see more, indeed, see the same thing I had seen, was great cause for debate. Especially considering that my dear Sir and I had ever quick minds and mouths, and that if we were to debate these magnificently enticing ideas, we would deter the class - including myself - from learning, and thus I had to be curbed. I still thank Mr Garrett for being able to curb me in such a way that I was not offended, even though I did manage to divert him from the curriculum many a time.
If only I had known then what I know now dear Sir. Ask me that insense spell question again! I now have a better answer!
See how easily I get far from my point?
The VAST image from the spirit of the world. Sent directly to Yeats. In this and the previous line, there is a certain amount of hope and beauty. It is in Yeats excitement, and in the very thought of Spiritus Mundi itself.
Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert
Despite the hope that is suggested, it troubles his sight. It emerges from the desert, where Jesus resided for some time. I'd also like to comment here on 'in sands of THE desert' in our modern way, I think we would leave out that THE but Yeats is precise, and this very pricisness articulates, it punches each word out to be sure we capture the message.
A shape with lion body and the head of a man
Here you can see he is using the language the same way again - leaving out the in the early part of the sentence to punctuate it later on. The imagery is monstrous - it is as if it is seen through a red sheen, the hideous plains of heat stroked desert, with a beastly thing that cannot hope to move gracefully pawing along it.
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun
Always, pitiless as the sun got me here. I have never dealt well with heat, and when the sun is at its strongest I get sick and almost cannot move. So it seemed personal to me almost - the imagery of a searing gaze, never ending, never blinking, relentless, and the SUN, all of the heat that can be imagined, now that it is named the imagery of the desert in our minds seems to catch fire. The red, the blood, the chaos, the heat...,..Yeats has taken us to hell, even though we were on earth.
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
This line was always a bit sexual to me. Why not 'feet' or simply 'legs'? No, thighs he says. Despite saying it was the body of a lion, now we are struck by an image of a far worse monster, the flickering images come together and fall apart amoungst the heat and the sheen of red - the beast cannot be properly described or imagined. 'Slow' thighs also implies to me the thickness of an incredible amount of inhuman muscle, and for some reason I cannot fathom - a blackened, scaled and reptilian like skin? Perhaps the suggestion of desert heat and slow gaze is what leads me to reptilian, as their gaze is slow and mostly unblinking, their whole bodies do not tend to move fast. The movement is now obvious - the gyre is gone, the spirals which created order have broken apart and now there is only the slow churning of these thighs......Moving, walking, but there is a hint of nastiness, of promiscuity, somehow, in this line.
Reel shadows of indignant desert birds
In the earlier line, 'all about it' you could catch the hint that it was referring to birds. Scavangers, the worst of the whole animal kingdom. (well hello there, Bink) I have heard it said that a vulture - to which Yeats surely is referring - is the worst of creatures, a coward. Wishing it had the strength to kill you itself, it merely waits for you to die. But, why are these most repulsive of birds 'indignant'? Are even they disgusted by this thing, this beast that walks their desert? Is the loss of the gyre, the cycle of life, so terrible even for these terrible creatures? Yeats does not suggest in any way that the birds are happy, or in support of the antichrist, indeed, they 'Reel' as if away from it, repused, indignantly heralding its coming.
I like 'shadows' too. As if the birds are not really there - the disfigured beast dappled by the movement of their....Circling.
The darkness drops again: but now I know
Darkness drops, like a curtain on a stage, enough, no more, Yeats has cut off this vision, so, the spirit of the world chose him for this knowledge, he chooses to know no more. Far from being a herald of worse things, the darkness dropping seems comforting, like sleep, oblivion, comfort after the horror just witnessed. Even though the line flows into the next one, it is as if - now I know - signifies that once the knowledge has been had it cannot be erased, though he tried to turn his mind from it, he now knows, has the image of the beast in his mind, and cannot get rid of it.
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Twenty centuries from the death of Christ is closer to now than it was to Yeats time. It runs a chill through me if not you - as if he was writing it for us, for now, and not for them and then at all. He refers to Christs Tomb - 'stony sleep' and that even though Christ was reborn, and ascended....Something was left behind.
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle
Again, one of my favourite lines of poetry ever. So much here, in this one tiny line. It refers to the baby jesus, our saviour, and his antithesis - but it also refers to judgement day itself, when Jesus comes to save the Good, and damn the Evil, is he truly a saviour of love then? Surely those who are damned - For Eternity - will not see him in love and light. Is Christ the AntiChrist as well? This line suggests that the prince of peace is also a demon, two sides of the same coin. Truly a vision from Spiritus Mundi, indeed.
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last
Rough BEAST. He names it now, all the suggestion of the earlier lines comes rushing, roaring back, we're on the desert agan, bird shadows reeling instead of wheeling, the Beast, 666 Satan, the antichrist, all of horror that lives, too monstrous to describe, its here, its hour come ROUND, proving that all, all comes in circle and cycle, even that which is bad. Even if the never ending spiral - gyre - has fallen out of rythym, evil and retribution has a cycle all its own.
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?
'Slouches' again the suggestion that the Thing changes shape, hunches, is inhuman and beyond description or understanding. A suggestion of something humanoid yet with limbs and face and torso that cannot really be seen, or understood. And the mighty, destructive finish - towards BETHLEHEM - So back in Jesus' desert we surely are, desolate wasteland, the promise of the above line is now fulfilled, the suggestion of beast and saviour being one and the same is no longer a suggestion, it is a promise. And Image sent from the spirit of the world, a prophecy.
And this end, it heralds no hope, none, the beginning of the poem that plunges us directly into chaos seems distinctly peaceful compared to the blood tinged searing desert, the reeling birds, truly, in the beginning, it was 'mere' anarchy as you see the 'pitiless' gaze of the creature that comes in the end.
More and more, these words come to float through my mind as I watch, listen to the news. Hear what is happening around me. As if it is a prophecy, indeed, a vast image from Spiritus mundi, that Yeats chose to share with us all.......
WB Yeats!!
*applause*
The Second Coming
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 word.
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 the 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?
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 word.
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 the 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?
While doing credit to Yeats, I must also do credit to the man who introduced him to me. My once english teacher, Mr Garrett. This is the man who taught me to appreciate and analyse, although the analysis Im doing today would be quite different to the one we did in our 3 unit classes.
More and more today, when watching and hearing the news, lines from this poem begin to run through my mind. It is as if it has finally come, and it is not to be, as we thought, a single cataclysmic event that changes and destroys, rather, a long and slow degradation of the fabric that holds our current society together. Lets go through the poems relevancy for our current events, line by line.
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
Now, you may or may not know that Yeats was a bit obsessed with the gyre, the spiral. It features in many of his poems. I have one thing to say about that - Why not? The entirety of life is bound to the cycle, spiral, circle and sphere. One of my favourite books, 'The Loop' by Nicolas Evans has a magnificent quote as its entry, about the cycle of life, that even birds build their nests in circles, as if in honour of the sun and moon that chase each other around the worlds endless turning.
For me, this line is especially relevant right now, as to suggest the 'gyre' is widening, means it is becoming unstable. It is losing its circle, loosening, becoming lines rather than tight spirals. And admirable way of beginning a poem that deals with chaos.
Yeats also suggests that WE - all of us - are turning, and thus may be disorientated. I think it also tends to point out that the spiral becoming unstable is even more disorientating.
The falcon cannot hear the falconer
Simplistic, basic. Signifying that even the simpliest of things are 'out of touch' and that commands that may save the 'hunt' are going unheard. Is 'falcon' chosen because it is a vicious bird of prey? Suggesting violence, blood and hunting? Hawk could also have been chosen, but did you know, in aerial battle, the falcon always conquers the hawk? Though smaller and not so fierce, it is more mobile. Faster. I personally believe Yeats may have chosen 'Falcon' for cadence. You will notice - if you read Yeats work out loud - that the cadence very often comes into iambic pentameter. Not always in this particular poem, but 'Hawk' certainly would have shortened the line. Also, hawks being known as more vicious, may not have had the same connection to man - whereas with 'Falcon' there is a slight softness, as if the connection is desperate to be made, and still cannot be. Perhaps with a hawk, we would have been more inclined to believe it wasnt listening.
Things fall apart, the centre cannot hold
Back to the gyre again - the centre of a spiral and sphere is its most important. If the centre is compromised, the edges inevitably fall. The fairly ambigous 'things fall apart' could relate to anything without the mention of the centre, to remind us of the never ending spiral, which is right now in peril.
mere anarchy is loosed upon the world
One of my most favourite lines in all poetry. MERE anarchy is loosed - suggesting that far worse is to come, suggesting that if you believed anarchy to be terrible than you are about to see worse, so very much suggestion, all in that one word, 'Mere' when it is coupled with 'anarchy'. I also enjoy 'loosed', as if anarchy were something living, like a penned animal, that could be cut free to ravage....Very much like the hobbles on a falcon.
The blood dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
A second useage of 'loosed' throws us. Hmm, when writing, shouldnt we be aware enough, and creative enough, to think of another word? Therefore there must be a reason for it - Yeats is impressing doubly upon us that term of 'loosed' which not only implies the setting free of something living.....But something 'Let go' rather than 'broken free' there is a distinct difference between the two. It did not break free on its own, it was loosed. Also the difference between 'loosed' and 'let go'....Loosed far more represents a crazed and directionless aim, where 'let go' implies something calmer, though not much, it is there. All leading back to the chaos of the first line. Now Yeats gives us blood for real - 'blood dimmed tide'....So would then, the tide be bright if it were not tinged in blood? It is blood dimmed, not soaked or simply blood tide, so there is a suggestion of something beng tainted. The use of 'Tide' is obvious, going straight back to the sense of helplessness against something powerful. Impossible to overcome, inexorable. Cutting into the next line to highten tension.
The ceremony of innocence is drowned
This line seemed to have to start in the previous one so we would not miss the significance of this. However, to what ceremony does he refer? Is it baptisim, communion, reconciliation, or is it something more? The joining of man and woman, of birth? Or is it to display that all and anything innocent shall be drowned by this tainted tide, and the use of 'ceremony' is simply to imply that holiness itself cannot stand against it?
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Here is something that I see everyday. Those who have the best intentions, the purest hearts, who speak the truth, have no power to their words. In this instance of the poem, it is an illustration of chaos, that the best cannot have their points heard, similar to the falconer that cannot call his falcon, but more and more I am seeing this very thing in day to day life. That quite literally and truly, those who have the best ideas cannot bring conviction to their words, which leads to them seeking new words, and that in itself twists their point out of true.
Are full of passionate intensity
The worst full of passionate intensity. Who has not seen this recently? Mob bosses who get away with brutal murder, criminals getting out of jail while those who sought to punish them rot in cells - of course Yeats is making his point, driving it home, if the best have no conviction, then it stands to reason that the worst would have the enticing passion necessary to make their words heard. But this I have seen, every day, that the best cannot have their words heard over the furious intensity of those who have unclean purposes, simply, it seems, because of the volume and emotion connected to it.
Surely some revelation is at hand
I could not agree more, Mr Yeats. Here he refers directly to the book of Revelations which details our beginnings and our ends - the exact definition of revelation being an idea or new realization that eclipses all that has come before it. He cannot name the revelation, a beginning, or an end, he merely gives weight and relevance to the chaos by making it biblical.
Surely the second coming is at hand
Now he names his revelation. The End, where the second coming of Jesus heralds judgment day and the end of the human race. Of course, chaos would ensue at the end of humanity, whether divinity was in charge or not, but Yeats is suggesting something far worse. Nothing, so far, has pointed to any heaven, or even a hint of salvation, for anyone.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
For the first time in the poem Yeats breaks from his dulcid tone to use an exclamation. Excitement is evident in this line - any who have ever believed in Jesus should be excited by the idea of the second coming. Its the day all of christianity has waited for after all. But Yeats gives his caviot - he has more to say about this particular coming.
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Spiritus Mundi. Latin, literal translation, 'Spirit of the world'. Wiki tells me that Yeats believed that all humanity was connected to a vast intelligence, a type of collective conciouss. That this over seeing intelligence - not called God - caused universal symbols to appear in the minds of individuals. This suggests the binding together of humanity, but also, the seperation of each soul from the other, and from this overseeing intelligence. A 'vast image' he says, sent directly from the 'spirit of the world'. Imagine, a spirit of the world. How encompassing it would be, and for it, in itself, to send a 'vast' image to one individual out of billions.
I do remember exploring this idea in my english class. However, my dear Mr Garrett was a devout Catholic, and I was a quickly wandering sheep. I had just broken from the flock, run from the shepard, and at the idea of this, this 'Spiritus mundi' I was quite enchanted. That another Catholic, of all things, could break free into mysitisim as I had done and see more, indeed, see the same thing I had seen, was great cause for debate. Especially considering that my dear Sir and I had ever quick minds and mouths, and that if we were to debate these magnificently enticing ideas, we would deter the class - including myself - from learning, and thus I had to be curbed. I still thank Mr Garrett for being able to curb me in such a way that I was not offended, even though I did manage to divert him from the curriculum many a time.
If only I had known then what I know now dear Sir. Ask me that insense spell question again! I now have a better answer!
See how easily I get far from my point?
The VAST image from the spirit of the world. Sent directly to Yeats. In this and the previous line, there is a certain amount of hope and beauty. It is in Yeats excitement, and in the very thought of Spiritus Mundi itself.
Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert
Despite the hope that is suggested, it troubles his sight. It emerges from the desert, where Jesus resided for some time. I'd also like to comment here on 'in sands of THE desert' in our modern way, I think we would leave out that THE but Yeats is precise, and this very pricisness articulates, it punches each word out to be sure we capture the message.
A shape with lion body and the head of a man
Here you can see he is using the language the same way again - leaving out the in the early part of the sentence to punctuate it later on. The imagery is monstrous - it is as if it is seen through a red sheen, the hideous plains of heat stroked desert, with a beastly thing that cannot hope to move gracefully pawing along it.
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun
Always, pitiless as the sun got me here. I have never dealt well with heat, and when the sun is at its strongest I get sick and almost cannot move. So it seemed personal to me almost - the imagery of a searing gaze, never ending, never blinking, relentless, and the SUN, all of the heat that can be imagined, now that it is named the imagery of the desert in our minds seems to catch fire. The red, the blood, the chaos, the heat...,..Yeats has taken us to hell, even though we were on earth.
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
This line was always a bit sexual to me. Why not 'feet' or simply 'legs'? No, thighs he says. Despite saying it was the body of a lion, now we are struck by an image of a far worse monster, the flickering images come together and fall apart amoungst the heat and the sheen of red - the beast cannot be properly described or imagined. 'Slow' thighs also implies to me the thickness of an incredible amount of inhuman muscle, and for some reason I cannot fathom - a blackened, scaled and reptilian like skin? Perhaps the suggestion of desert heat and slow gaze is what leads me to reptilian, as their gaze is slow and mostly unblinking, their whole bodies do not tend to move fast. The movement is now obvious - the gyre is gone, the spirals which created order have broken apart and now there is only the slow churning of these thighs......Moving, walking, but there is a hint of nastiness, of promiscuity, somehow, in this line.
Reel shadows of indignant desert birds
In the earlier line, 'all about it' you could catch the hint that it was referring to birds. Scavangers, the worst of the whole animal kingdom. (well hello there, Bink) I have heard it said that a vulture - to which Yeats surely is referring - is the worst of creatures, a coward. Wishing it had the strength to kill you itself, it merely waits for you to die. But, why are these most repulsive of birds 'indignant'? Are even they disgusted by this thing, this beast that walks their desert? Is the loss of the gyre, the cycle of life, so terrible even for these terrible creatures? Yeats does not suggest in any way that the birds are happy, or in support of the antichrist, indeed, they 'Reel' as if away from it, repused, indignantly heralding its coming.
I like 'shadows' too. As if the birds are not really there - the disfigured beast dappled by the movement of their....Circling.
The darkness drops again: but now I know
Darkness drops, like a curtain on a stage, enough, no more, Yeats has cut off this vision, so, the spirit of the world chose him for this knowledge, he chooses to know no more. Far from being a herald of worse things, the darkness dropping seems comforting, like sleep, oblivion, comfort after the horror just witnessed. Even though the line flows into the next one, it is as if - now I know - signifies that once the knowledge has been had it cannot be erased, though he tried to turn his mind from it, he now knows, has the image of the beast in his mind, and cannot get rid of it.
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Twenty centuries from the death of Christ is closer to now than it was to Yeats time. It runs a chill through me if not you - as if he was writing it for us, for now, and not for them and then at all. He refers to Christs Tomb - 'stony sleep' and that even though Christ was reborn, and ascended....Something was left behind.
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle
Again, one of my favourite lines of poetry ever. So much here, in this one tiny line. It refers to the baby jesus, our saviour, and his antithesis - but it also refers to judgement day itself, when Jesus comes to save the Good, and damn the Evil, is he truly a saviour of love then? Surely those who are damned - For Eternity - will not see him in love and light. Is Christ the AntiChrist as well? This line suggests that the prince of peace is also a demon, two sides of the same coin. Truly a vision from Spiritus Mundi, indeed.
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last
Rough BEAST. He names it now, all the suggestion of the earlier lines comes rushing, roaring back, we're on the desert agan, bird shadows reeling instead of wheeling, the Beast, 666 Satan, the antichrist, all of horror that lives, too monstrous to describe, its here, its hour come ROUND, proving that all, all comes in circle and cycle, even that which is bad. Even if the never ending spiral - gyre - has fallen out of rythym, evil and retribution has a cycle all its own.
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?
'Slouches' again the suggestion that the Thing changes shape, hunches, is inhuman and beyond description or understanding. A suggestion of something humanoid yet with limbs and face and torso that cannot really be seen, or understood. And the mighty, destructive finish - towards BETHLEHEM - So back in Jesus' desert we surely are, desolate wasteland, the promise of the above line is now fulfilled, the suggestion of beast and saviour being one and the same is no longer a suggestion, it is a promise. And Image sent from the spirit of the world, a prophecy.
And this end, it heralds no hope, none, the beginning of the poem that plunges us directly into chaos seems distinctly peaceful compared to the blood tinged searing desert, the reeling birds, truly, in the beginning, it was 'mere' anarchy as you see the 'pitiless' gaze of the creature that comes in the end.
More and more, these words come to float through my mind as I watch, listen to the news. Hear what is happening around me. As if it is a prophecy, indeed, a vast image from Spiritus mundi, that Yeats chose to share with us all.......
| 25 |
| Vote |
Add Comments