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"The Second Coming" by William Butler Yeats

SanfamSanfam I like clocks.
in Babylon 5
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 tined is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, 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 [i]Spiritus Mundi[/i]
Troubles my sight: somewhere in the sands of the desert
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitless 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 the nightmare by a rocking cradle
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

--William Butler Yeats


This is the poem that my English teacher read to the class after the attack. It was very moving to me. I hope it inspires you, too.

Comments

  • whitestar90whitestar90 Elite Ranger
    It could the start of something bigger....
  • SanfamSanfam I like clocks.
    Just so you know, this poem was written around 1917, I believe.
  • WaylanderWaylander Earthforce Officer
    Coincidentally, JMS also used parts of this poem in episode 202, Revelations, when G'Kar discovers a great darkness:

    [i]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;
    And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
    Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?[/i]

    It's promising that those affected by the tragedy seem more focussed on rescue and recovery than retribution and revenge. I'm glad this awful, Evil inhuman obscenity hasn't yet triggered a dangerously violent, World-threatening response. The stories of true heroism and human dignity are too numerous to mention.
  • SanfamSanfam I like clocks.
    In the coming weeks, violent acts will probably erupt. People will truly realize what had happened, and change the way they thought.
  • Falcon1Falcon1 Elite Ranger
    Well I hope people don't start attacking muslims in blind hatred... thats the last thing people need at the moment.

    ------------------
    'The future is all around us' G'kar
    'I have no surviving enemies! None what so ever!' Galen

    Visit my B5 site at: [url="http://www.nialb5.com"]B5 site[/url].
  • BigglesBiggles <font color=#AAFFAA>The Man Without a Face</font>
    Unfortunately, that has already begun. Even here in NZ people are being shouted at and having things thrown at them just for wearing a turban. In the US many Sikhs have been attacked because people have mistaken them for Arabs.

    ------------------
    [b][url="http://www.minbari.co.uk/log12.2263/"]Required reading[/url][/b]
    Never eat anything bigger than your own head.
    The Balance provides. The Balance protects.

    "Nonono...Is not [i]Great[/i] Machine. Is...[i]Not[/i]-so-Great Machine. It make good snow cone though." - Zathras
  • RandyRandy Master Storyteller
    See this article:
    [url="http://alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=11473"]http://alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=11473[/url]
  • whitestar90whitestar90 Elite Ranger
    Same here in Australia anti arab feeling has started.Some people just can't understand that it is a minority that is the cause not the whole [img]http://216.15.145.59/mainforums/frown.gif[/img]
  • An ex-SquidAn ex-Squid Elite Ranger
    You'd think that with so many people comparing Tuesday's events to the attack on Pearl Harbor, they would remember what happened to Japanese Americans immediately afterwards. Just goes to show that history [i]will[/i] repeat itself if we forget it...

    [This message has been edited by An ex-Squid (edited 09-14-2001).]
  • BigglesBiggles <font color=#AAFFAA>The Man Without a Face</font>
    It goes to show that people have already forgot, if they haven't learnt from Pearl Harbour.

    ------------------
    [b][url="http://www.minbari.co.uk/log12.2263/"]Required reading[/url][/b]
    Never eat anything bigger than your own head.
    The Balance provides. The Balance protects.

    "Nonono...Is not [i]Great[/i] Machine. Is...[i]Not[/i]-so-Great Machine. It make good snow cone though." - Zathras
  • socratessocrates Ranger
    In the wake of such horrific events, people often find it necessary to find an outlet to channel feelings of shock, outrage and anger. It is natural for those, who don't know better, to target Arab communities; to blame them irrationally for what has happened. Especially after this incident where there is NO clear cut enemy, no target to strike back at. It can't be helped, but hopefully, it won't escalate into further violence and bloodshed.

    ------------------
    [b]Commander[/b] socrates
    flightleader, [i]Erinyes[/i]
    The Gray Hand of Fate
    AnlaShok Blackops

    "Do [b]NOT[/b] interfere."
  • SanfamSanfam I like clocks.
    We'll find out in the coming weeks. This is when people will begin to fully return from a state of shock. Often, they are flooded with emotions they can't deal with. I hope this will not be the case, but it's the only likely outcome.
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