Particularly in the first stanza, Yeats uses punctuation to separate each point that he is trying to project. Each semi-colon represents a singular, complex idea while commas are used to contrast the idea within the semi-colons. Each pause in the poem is focusing on a specific idea. Each break forces the reader to contemplate the different aspects of destruction. Words such as “anarchy”, “blood-dimmed”, and “vexed” are used to magnify the intensity of the poem. Reading the words may not have much of an effect, but saying them out loud bring thoughts of suffering and pain to one’s mind.

The overall atmosphere is one of death, destruction, and hopelessness following,

In line fourteen, the figure with “A shape with lion body and the head of a man” is the sphinx, brought to Yeats’ mind by the Spiritus Mundi. According to many Greek myths, the sphinx was a master of riddles. If the person being asked to solve the riddle could not answer correctly, the sphinx would destroy him (Sphinx). I believe the sphinx, representing Christ upon his return, represents the beast within us craving the human appetite for death, vengeful and all-powerful. The sphinx gazes blankly and “pitiless as the sun” (15). This beast has become indifferent: we destroy our enemies without conviction. Christ will come for everyone, regardless of race, color, or creed. The nightmares mentioned in line twenty is the turmoil facing the human race. Only a few can foresee this destruction to come, which I believe is represented by the “desert birds” in line seventeen. There is no hope, for we have borne the beast.

Written in 1921, this poem is not about the second coming of Christ, it is about how out-of-control we have allowed the world to become after World War I. Line by line, each stanza conveys the heartache experienced after the war to end all wars. Two of the lines Yeats uses to explain our lost grip on society are as follows: “Turning and turning in the widening gyre / The falcon cannot hear the falconer” (1-2). I think that the gyre represents the world. By 1921 war was no longer limited to states, cities, or single countries. From this point forward, wars would be fought in perspective of the entire world, ever widening. The falcon is perhaps represents technology: new ships, new tactics, new weapons. The technology expands so fast that man cannot control it; hence, not being able to “hear” the falconer (us). The falcon could also bring to mind a concept known as “total war”, which is complete annihilation of the enemy. Total war leaves the enemy completely and utterly destroyed. Although history does not like to remind people that this was done, many military units and civilian targets were totally wiped out of existence. The governments, allowing complete destruction of the

Some topics in this essay:
World War, According Greek, War Line, Christ Particularly, France England, Butler Yeats, Surely Coming, Axis Powers, Patrick Henry, Dogs War, coming christ, world war, hand /, total war, ceremony innocence, previous wars, war wars, line twenty, wars fought, “the blood-dimmed,