History 12 Unit 1: The World of 1919 Topic: Post World War I Assignment: Post-War

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Cynicism

Written in response to the industrialized warfare of the First World War, W.B Yeats striking and oftentimes troubling poem The Second Coming exemplifies the worlds mounting sense of cynicism and despair. According to Yeats (as written in a letter to a friend) he was led to this pessimistic stance by the growing murderousness of the world.

The Second Coming

Turning and turning in the widening gyre The falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere The ceremony of innocence is drowned; The best lack all convictions, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity. Surely some revelation is at hand; Surely the Second Coming is at hand. The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert A shape with lion body and the head of a man, A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun, Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds. The darkness drops again; but now I know That twenty centuries of stony sleep Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle, And what rough beast, its hour come round at last, Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born? spiral man - God

soul of the world sphinx vultures Christianity

~ W. B. Yeats (1919)

Background on W.B. Yeats: William Butler Yeats was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1865. Throughout his life he was involved in both local and global politics, including an association with the Celtic Revival, a movement against the cultural influences of English rule in Ireland. Yeats strong feelings about the state of the world fueled much of his poetry, including the above selection. Much of his verse also reflects his interest in mysticism and the occult. Although Yeats was raised as a Christian, in later years he turned more towards pagan mysticism. Notes on The Second Coming: The first eight lines reflect the current state of the world: man has moved away from God, and anarchy has been loosed upon the world. In the second stanza, the speaker believes that surely the Second Coming must be near at hand (this refers to Christs promised return on Doomsday, the end of the world). However, the speaker sees out of the Spirit of the World (as opposed to the Holy Spirit) a vision of the Sphinx. This may be interpreted as a symbol of paganism/mans animal nature. The last two lines are believed by many to refer to a coming Apocalypse, but Yeats could very well be prophesizing simply a new phase in history (a new cycle beginning every 2000 years). In any case, his notion of a rough beast certainly foreshadows the birth of such characters as Hitler and Mussolini.

While The Second Coming effectively illustrates the prominent sense of disillusionment following the First World War, Dulce et Decorum Est provides a more tangible look at the horrors during the war. This poem is followed by a short excerpt which further describes the images in Dulce et Decorum Est, but in prose form. All selections will help you arrive at a better understanding of the world during the postwar years.

Excerpted from Wilfred Owens Dulce et Decorum Est

GAS! Quick, boys! An ecstasy of fumbling, Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time; But someone still was yelling out and stumbling And flound' ring like a man in fire or lime . . . Dim through the misty panes and thick green light, As under a green sea, I saw him drowning. If in some smothering dreams, you too could pace Behind the wagon that we flung him in, And watch the white eyes wilting in his face, His hanging face, like a devil' s sick of sin; If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs, Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues, My friend, you would not tell with such high zest To children ardent for some desperate glory, The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori.1 ~ Wilfred Owen
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Sweet and fitting it is to die for ones country. (Horace, Odes, III.ii.13)

The following passage from John Ellis, Eye-Deep in Hell: Trench Warfare in World war I, (1976) includes a description of mustard gas poisoning and a first-hand report:
With mustard gas the effects did not become apparent for up to twelve hours. But then it began to rot the body, within and without. The skin blistered, the eyes became extremely painful and nausea and vomiting began. Worse, the gas attacked the bronchial tubes, stripping off the mucous membrane. The pain was almost beyond endurance and most cases had to be strapped to their beds. Death took up to four or five weeks. A nurse wrote: I wish those people who write so glibly about this being a holy war and the orators who talk so much about going on no matter how long the war lasts and what it may mean, could see a case to say nothing of ten cases of mustard gas in its early stages could see poor things burnt and blistered all over with great mustard-coloured suppurating blisters, with blind eyes all sticky and stuck together, and always fighting for breath, with voices a mere whisper, saying that their throats are closing and they know they will choke.

1. What does Dulce et Decorum Est describe? Identify some of the images used.

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2. Identify Owens argument and some of the techniques he uses to make his point.

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3. What is the tone of The Second Coming? Angry? Hopeful? (Imagine the poet reading it out loud)

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4. What images can be found in The Second Coming? (things you can see/ picture)

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5. Keeping both of these accounts in mind, in your own words, explain the transition from the pre-war golden age mentality to the post-war age of pessimism and negativity.

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