Yeats

pathway33

I'll have lots of questions so I'll start with 'The Second Coming'.

What does 'the falcon cannot hear the falconer' mean?

Ronan Keating

The bird can't hear the man.

pathway33

Ronan Keating wrote: »

The bird can't hear the man.

excellent yes of course. And of course the bird can't hear the man because s/he has flown so far away from the man. And because this was written in 1919 yeats naturally thought that the world had gone mad and the bird (mankind) had gone so far away from the man (God) that chaos was inevitable.

You have been invaluable mr keating

pathway33

Anyone read Yeats book 'A Vision' as a backdrop to 'The Second Coming'?

Ronan Keating

http://www.yeatsvision.com/secondnotes.html

Baile an Locha

pathway33 wrote: »

What does 'the falcon cannot hear the falconer' mean?

It's a reference to dante's inferno, falconer is god, falcon is man.
The poem just predicts the end of society and the birth of a new civilisation.
Excellent poem, hope Yeats comes up in june.

pathway33

Baile an Locha wrote: »

The poem just predicts the end of society and the birth of a new civilisation.

with the new civilisation being ruled by the 'rough beast' who 'slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?'

so yeats thinks the new civilisation might be ruled by the devil and not christ? would that be right?