The Second Coming In his poem “The Second Coming,” Yeats predicted cataclysmic changes about to befall humanity. He says: “Things are falling apart; the center cannot hold;/A simple anarchy is unleashed on the world” (1511). This statement is part of the modernist thought of this period. Modernist writers believed that traditional teachings were wanting and that it was time for a change. There has been a huge upheaval in religious beliefs and current religious beliefs have been challenged by new scientific knowledge. Yeats foresees spiritual changes in the words: “Surely a revelation is at hand;/Surely the Second Coming is at hand…” (1511). The modernist period is also a time when questions