If things do fall apart, my friend,
if center truly will not hold,
what can we keep from bitter end,
what values owned that can't be sold?
If the best lack all conviction,
cowardice our joint affliction,
have we the will to take a stand?
If not, what could befall our land?
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Author Notes
William Butler Yeats was born on June 13, 1865. He is not only an Irish poet - he is considered one of the most influential poets of the 20th Century and was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1925.
His political, social, mystical beliefs are most complex and often contradictory and are discussed in many a scholarly article and book - this is not a poem that endorses or refutes or even claims to understand those beliefs as they evolved and manifested themselves in peculiar ways. It is simply a reflection on some of the issues he raises in his most famous poem, "The Second Coming," which he wrote right after WWI.
"Things fall apart: the center cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world...
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity."
I have not adhered to iambic meter in the second verse of this poem, so please, if necessary, feel free to consider this something other than a rispetto.
Anyone wondering why the falcon for an illustration, google The Second Coming by Yeats. You really ought to read this magnificent poem if you are not already familiar with it!
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