LITR 5734: Colonial & Postcolonial Literature

Student Poetry Presentation 2008

Thursday, 31 January: Conclude Heart of Darkness (54-76; complete); begin Achebe, Things Fall Apart (1-51; through chapter 6).

·        Poetry reading: W. B. Yeats, “The Second Coming”

reader: Danielle Lynch

D. Lynch
Yeats’s "The Second Coming"
 
This poem, I believe, speaks to us with two agendas. First, there is the matter of the “falcon [who] cannot here the falconer,” and the “widening gyre.” I believe Yeats is referring to God and our simple existence — God being the Falconer (or creator) and the Falcon being the humans.

Later he mentions a “revelation” that’s near and the second coming. Surely those images conjure up The Bible’s Book of Revelations and the end of the world, as we know it.

But — considering the context in which we’re reading the poem, it could be said that Yeats is commenting on the decline of Western Civilization. The imperialist nature of much of the Western world led them to colonize various parts of Africa.

Point to ponder: The poem also mentions the line “Things fall apart,” also the title of Achebe’s novel — his comment on post colonialism. Could the title of this novel be taken from Yeats’s poem?

There are several images in the poem that lead us to believe Yeats is discussing the Western World’s relationship with these colonized nations. For example, Yeats mentions the “sands of a desert: and a lion with the head of a man — lions being found in Africa. However, I believe that with these images he’s noting that the “civilized” are becoming “savage.”

Yeats notes that the world cannot survive like this. In fact, toward the end of the poem, he mentions the lion reeling up as “darkness drops again” — darkness being the Africans. He mentions this lion moving slowly and “its hour com[ing] round at last, slouch[ing] toward Bethlehem to be born.” I believe Yeats is saying that the “savage” will rise up and the reference to Bethlehem is obviously to that of Christ — or a savior’s — birth.
… Or I could be wrong.

Read about Yeats here: http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1923/yeats-bio.html