how i read a poem – PopCult Reviews

How I Read A Poem: The Second Coming by W.B. Yeats Part 2

Last week, we began a look at The Second Coming by W.B. Yeats by looking at vocabulary choice and a close read of the first stanza. In this second part, we’re going to look at the longer second stanza and get some background on Yeats that I think will help understand the context of the poem. Here’s the full poem for a re-read:

How I Read a Poem: The Second Coming by William Butler Yeats

So why should you spend any time reading poems? Isn’t the world in a state of crisis so severe that we don’t have time for such frivolousness? Or, shouldn’t I numb my brain with endless streams of Netflix binging? Well, I mean suppose. You don’t have to read poetry. I am sure you could go your whole life and never feel like you missed much by not reading poetry. But that could be said of lots of things like traveling abroad or eating at a fancy restaurant, but those things are nice to do, and they add richness to your life.