"The Second Coming" by Yeats

After reading “The Second Coming” by William Butler Yeats, I would start by asking my students about Yeats title choice for the poem. I would want to have an idea as to how many of the students are aware of the biblical reference of the words “second coming.” Yeats lays out the ground work for his readers with just the title. We know that he’s definitely going to incorporate a religious significance in his poem by just the title. By choosing my students to first understand the title of the poem, I feel as if I would be placing a virtual religious lens on them before delving into the dark tunnel of evil from which this poem speaks of.

I would then ask my students to do a close reading of lines 5-8:

The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere

The ceremony of innocence is drowned;

The best lack all conviction, while the worst

Are full of passionate intensity.

I would ask them to look through their lens to find the religious interpretation in just these four lines. What exactly is the speaker alluding to in these lines? In order for something or somebody to drown we need water. So, does that mean a natural disaster has occurred (i.e. tsunami or hurricane)?

This poem is definitely riddled with imagery and symbolism and words like “blood-dimmed tide” gives its readers something to draw from to better understand the poem’s meaning.

Finally, I would use this discussion to segue into the theme of good vs. evil.