Spirituality and the Second ComingIn his eloquent poem "The Second Coming" William Butler Yeats uses word choice and sentence combinations to convey to the reader an understanding of his feeling of impossibility regarding to the destiny of spirituality for the human race. His inner consciousness is spread throughout the poem so that the reader can accompany him into his darkness or turn their back on him and continue to believe in their own form of hope in spirituality. Yeats cleverly alludes the reader to his desperation in the phrase: "Turning and turning in the widening vortex" (Yeats, Longman p. 2329: 1.). The reader can hear the poet's voice describing his journey further and further away from his cherished religion-based center. His beliefs have been shattered over time. According to the introduction in The Longman Anthology British Literature, "The 1890s in London were heady times for a young poet. Yeats became even more active in his studies of the occult," years before he wrote The Second Coming. This interest may have distanced the poet from his previous religious values. It is possible that because of this turn away from religion the author's basic value system was in turmoil at the time of writing The Second Coming. Yeats's departure from his religious beliefs can be highlighted in the line: "The falcon cannot hear the falconer" which could be interpreted as him no longer hearing the voice of his former God (Yeats, 2). The falcon in this sentence may refer to Yeats himself and the falconer may symbolize his former God. When the author writes "the center cannot stand" he is perhaps referring to his idea that organized religion can no longer give credence or explanation to his work... half of the sheet... of the words written by Yeats and their possible meanings, the poems written can certainly be considered worthy of placement in the literary canon not only for the beauty of the work then for the author's ability to raise questions for generations to come. Works Cited Bressler, Charles E. Literary Criticism. New Jersey. Prentice Hall, 1999.Conrad, Joseph. “Heart of Darkness” The Longman Anthology British Literature. Ed. David Damrosch. Longmann. New York. 2000. 2190-2246. Damrosch, David, et al., ed. The Longman Anthology of British Literature: Vol. B. Compact ed. New York: Longman - Addison Wesley Longman, 2000. Scott, Paul. The jewel in the crown. University of Chicago Press. Chicago. 1976.Yeats, William, Butler. "The Second Coming." The Longman Anthology British Literature. Ed. David Damrosch. Longmann. New York. 2000. 2329.