Leaves

The End of an Era, The End of a Dilemma
By Brent Thiessen

"The Second Coming" by William Butler Yeats is a post-apocalyptic vision, influenced by the Biblical text of Revelation but brought to the forefront to contrast with the modern political climate of the past world wars and the terrors of facing the potential end-times lurking around the turn of the century. Yeats borrows classic collective imagery and ideas, such as a "rough beast" to simplify the physical form of the Devil, or the thought of "mere anarchy" to effectively describe the world's corroding status along the vein of Armageddon. "The Second Coming" is the epitome of a dilemma, the primary example of a seemingly irrevocable situation where humanity has dug itself into a hole so deep that it has reached the other side of the Earth and split it apart into polar extremes. In this poem, Yeats conveys that hope that only be found in the present rather than relying on future generations to mend our shoddy framework for us. It is also then necessary to cleanse ourselves of corruption and be as painfully honest as possible across every demographic to find common ground. Once this is achieved and our good will is harnessed, we can avoid the horrors that come full-force with the idea of the apocalypse... and the end of humanity as we know it. For when a dilemma on a world-wide scale is present, a collective conscious of good will is the only thing capable of reversing it.

Religion often appeals to children to the greatest degree. First of all, because the idea of an ever-loving God is that much more believable, and second, because a promise of heaven seems perfectly natural- to a child, the world is black and white, good and evil, God and Satan, and if a good reputation is juggled and kept in check, then salvation is merely a good deed away. As a child grows up, his or her perception shifts accordingly to an ambiguous world of tough choices and heart-breaking decisions. The uncertainty of faith falls into place. "The Second Coming" foretells the end of religion with the line "The ceremony of innocence is drowned..." The innocence of a child in relevance to religion, and their belief in a loving God to take care of every bad thing there is. Yeats warns us of no future generations to speak of, drowned in the wake of the corrosion of faith. Children are important because they remind us of simplicity, and the bravery to have hope in something that is bigger than us all, even if it may not be there. A collective conscious through the eyes of children. It is then that we realize that it is our responsibility to ensure that the chain of creation is carried through from one link to the next, which requires immediate change for the better. That change starts with us.

In this world like a tree, we are all leaves sprouting from the same source, different as our colours may be. Conflict is so abundant because of the power struggle inflicted by our egos; we choose to hoard each other's supply of sugar rather than savor it. Corruption is when we choose to ignore the needs of the suffering for the sake of our own progression. Anarchy proceeds corruption; it is no more secure of a state, as chaos is still rampant- it is rather a statement on the desire for change through extreme expression. Yeats describes this as "Things fall apart, the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world." What anarchy does is allow our expression to reign supreme; however, what it does not do is allow room to comprehend these thoughts and convert it into positive energy. It is necessary for every demographic- people of every age, race, and ethnicity- to find a suitable solution to address the suffering of the world-wide dilemma if we are to escape the point of no return. If we all realized that we stem from the same life source and share the same pain, it would be that much more easier to communicate. Before the Devil arrives to cut down our tree.

The entirety of "The Second Coming" is a commentary on what the result of an unchanged world will be, and how it would be the downfall and end to any future possibilities. He emphasizes the escalation of humanity's suffering with "The blood-dimmed tide is loosed", and foreshadows the climactic events that will eschew equal pain for the sake of closure in the lines "A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun... The darkness drops again." Yeats had been inspired to write this poem after the events of World War 1 had receded, but his memory of the cancerous plights had been deeply embedded in his imagination concerning the future and the consequences. Revelation and Yeats' own interpretation serve as a warning to the impending doom which will be presented to us if the Spiritus Mundi, or, "The Spirit of the World" does not unite to manifest the potential good in all of its citizens. That good will may be essential to avoid the world from falling apart at the seams and exposing the deep, dark interior that devours everything in its vicinity.

They say that the road to hell is paved with good intentions, which is why our intentions must be resolved within ourselves first. To go about this, we must acquire some perception of a world where good and evil are present no matter how much those things seem to bleed into each other and believe that the path of "good" has the greater relevance to a world with minimal pain. Second, a common ground should be found to allow for empathy to take root and spark growth for generations to come. And third, we must consider the consequences of leaving the Earth vulnerable to its destruction if we ignore the steps required for progression to prevent everything from falling apart. Because darkness may very well drop again, but if our tree reaches far enough around the world so that light is always reflecting off our leaves, then the darkness will never be able to fully grasp humanity's heart.