It perfectly captures what I think is one of the most moving qualities about it. The poem builds in crescendo to the reference of Jesus' promised return to earth, but it still has this intensity to it. The music also holds this intensity, and there is a quality of a march to it as well. The poem paints an apocalyptic image of the world with the Second Coming, and each line (almost march-like) adds more and more depth to this image. I just had to share this thought process I was having as I read the poem and listened to this music on my Spotify at the same time.
I have actually read this poem for another class, and I found it really interesting that the poem incorporates images from different religions, not simply Christianity. Despite the poem's title being something obviously Christian, the poem references the Spiritus Mundi as well as the Egyptian Sphinx. It's almost as if Yeats is not excluding ANY culture from the effects of the Second Coming.
I found the language of the poem absolutely gorgeous. Each line is powerful and ponderous, and it was an absolute pleasure to read.
Priya, this is a really beautiful song, and I can see why it would remind you of The Second Coming. I also thought it was interesting that Yeats included references to different religions in the poem. My first experience with this piece was reading it at the beginning of Chinua Achebe's "Things Fall Apart," which was very much about the pagan religion of the native people and the influence of Christian missionaries. I'm curious, how did you interpret the last five lines of the poem?
ReplyDelete