Tasks: The Second Coming by William Butler Yeats

Look up the meaning of the words and phrases below. Write down the answers. Read the poem again when you have looked up these words and phrases.

1. The Second Coming is a religious phrase. What does it mean?
2. The falcon is turning in a widening gyre: What is meant by the word gyre?
3. What is a falconer?
4. What is anarchy?
5. What does revelation mean?
6. A shape with lion body and the head of a man describes a mythical creature: what kind of creature?
7. What is a rocking cradle?

Have the poem in front of you when you work on these tasks and close read the text. Write down your answers.

1. William Butler Yeats wrote this poem just after World War I was over. Do you think this information is relevant to understanding what the poem is about? Explain why/why not.
2. The poem alludes to the Christian religion. Find examples of this, and consider what is achieved by making these allusions.
3. Would you say the mood in the poem is optimistic or pessimistic? Give reasons for your answer.
4. What is the theme and message of the poem?

5. The part of the poem that is quoted the most is found below. What do you think the passage means? What kinds of events do you think prompt people to use this quotation?

   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.

The painting Landscape from a Dream by Paul Nash is used to illustrate the poem. Study the painting and answer the questions below.

1. What strikes you when you look at the painting?
2. What do you think the painting expresses? Does it have a theme or message?
3. The sky within the frame has a different colour than the sky outside the frame. Why do you think that is?
4. Do you think the painting illustrates the poem well? Give reasons for your answer.

Research:

Choose one of the tasks to research. Share your findings in a group.

1. Find out more about William Butler Yeats. What is he famous for? What was he inspired by?
2. In the early 20th century Ireland struggled for independence. Find out more about this struggle, and explain how Ireland gained independence from the United Kingdom.
3. Find out how Ireland's struggle for independence from the United Kingdom influenced William Butler Yeats's writing.

Work together in groups of three.

One of you will be William Butler Yeats, one of you will be an interpreter, and one of you will be an interviewer who only speaks Norwegian.

The interviewer wants to interview William Butler Yeats about himself, his authorship in general, and the poem "The Second Coming" in particular. He needs the interpreter to translate his questions and the answers from William Butler Yeats.

(If you need to be more than three in a group you can add an extra Irish person who is interviewed about the Irish struggle for independence and what Yeats' work means to them, or two people can share the role of interpreter. )

Pick one of the tasks and write a longer text in the genre indicated.

1. Write an analysis of the poem where you pay special attention to the images that are used, and consider what using them achieves.
2. Write a text where you discuss whether literature can inspire significant change in society.
3. Write a short story where you draw inspiration from the poem.