Yeats’s Visions: Chaos, War, and Art

Introduction:

History is often viewed as a linear progression, but for William Butler Yeats, it was a series of overlapping spirals—gyres—that inevitably lead to moments of profound transformation and terror. As we navigate our own era of global uncertainty, Yeats’s modernist visions provide a hauntingly accurate vocabulary for crisis. This blog post explores two of his most significant works, "The Second Coming" and "On Being Asked for a War Poem", connecting his 20th-century anxieties with our 21st-century reality through online lectures, cross-cultural podcasts, and academic analysis.

1. Critical Perspectives: Online Lectures and Textual Analysis :

Case Study: "The Second Coming" as a Pandemic Narrative

Analysis: Written in 1919, "The Second Coming" uses the metaphor of the "widening gyre" to describe a world spiraling out of control. The poem captures a sense of total disintegration—social, moral, and spiritual. While often read as a political commentary on the Irish Civil War or the aftermath of WWI, it is equally powerful when viewed as a "Pandemic Poem." The "blood-dimmed tide" and the "ceremony of innocence" being drowned mirror the visceral horror of the 1918 flu, which Yeats’s own pregnant wife narrowly survived.

Aesthetic Resistance: "On Being Asked for a War Poem"

Video Recording of Online Class - On Being Asked for a War Poem)

Analysis:

This poem represents Yeats’s firm stance on the autonomy of art. When pressured to write a "war poem," Yeats refuses to use his "mouth" for political propaganda. He argues that in times of crisis, the poet’s gift is not to "set a statesman right" but to preserve the beauty of human experience—the "indolence" of a young girl or the quietude of an old man. It is a defense of the personal over the political.

2. Cross-Cultural Synthesis: Insights from the Hindi Podcast :

 Hindi Podcast Video on Yeats’s Poems:

Interpretative Note on the Podcast:

The podcast offers a fascinating cross-cultural bridge, translating Yeats's dense Western occultism into a context that resonates deeply with a South Asian audience. A key takeaway from the discussion is the interpretation of "Anarchy" not just as a political collapse, but as a crisis of the individual soul. The speakers highlight how the "Spiritus Mundi" (the collective soul of the universe) can be understood through the lens of ancient philosophical concepts of interconnectedness and cosmic cycles.

Furthermore, the podcast emphasizes the modern relevance of "Atmanirbhar" or mental self-reliance. In an era of "infodemic" and digital noise, the podcast suggests that Yeats’s warning about the "best lacking all conviction" while the "worst are full of passionate intensity" is a direct call for modern listeners to find their own moral center. It argues that by understanding the "gyre" of history, we can better prepare ourselves emotionally for the inevitable shifts in global power and social structures, moving from a place of fear to one of informed observation.

3. Academic Engagement: ResearchGate Study Exercises :

Following the exercises provided in the ResearchGate publication by Dr. Dilip Barad, here are the detailed responses:

(i) Discursive Inquiry: The Poet’s Role in Times of Crisis

Discussion Question: Do you agree with Yeats’s assertion that a poet’s mouth should be silent in times of war?

Response: While many argue that art must be "committed" (Engaged Literature), Yeats makes a compelling case for the preservation of the "interior." If every poet becomes a propagandist, who is left to remember the quiet, beautiful moments of humanity that the war is supposedly being fought to protect? I agree with Yeats to the extent that poetry should not be forced into the service of the state, but I believe poetry can still witness suffering without necessarily trying to "set a statesman right."

(ii) Creative Reimagining: The 21st-Century "Rough Beast"

Creativity Activity: Imagine the 'Rough Beast' in the context of the 21st century.

Response: In the 1920s, the beast was a lurching sphinx-like figure. In the 2020s, the "Rough Beast" slouching towards Bethlehem might take the form of an invisible, microscopic virus or a runaway Artificial Intelligence. It represents the "unintended consequence" of human progress. Just as the falcon cannot hear the falconer, our modern technologies often spin beyond our ethical control, creating a new "widening gyre" of digital misinformation and biological vulnerability.

(iii) Structural Analysis: The Mechanics of Disintegration

Analytical Exercise: Analyze the shift from the first to the second stanza in "The Second Coming".

Response: The first stanza is marked by centrifugal force—things flying apart, the center failing, and a "blood-dimmed tide" that is amorphous and everywhere. The second stanza shifts to stagnant weight—the "vast image" in the desert sands. This movement from a fluid, chaotic anarchy to a solid, pitiless, and terrifying new "order" suggests that the "Second Coming" is not a return to peace, but the birth of a cold, indifferent era that replaces the previous 2,000 years of "stony sleep."

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Conclusion: The Center Still Holds :

Yeats’s poetry serves as a mirror for any civilization standing on the precipice of change. Whether he was writing about the physical devastation of the 1918 pandemic or the psychological refusal to let art be consumed by war, his message remains clear: the human spirit requires a space for beauty and introspection even—and especially—when the "center cannot hold." By studying these poems today, we learn that while the "rough beast" may change its face, the poet's duty to witness the world and protect the "ceremony of innocence" remains eternal.

References :

Barad, D. P. (2025). W.B. Yeats's Poems: The Second Coming & On Being Asked for a War Poem. ResearchGate.

https://blog.dilipbarad.com/2021/05/whauden-poems.html