Apocalypse now?
Another blogcritics post from Elvira:
Yeats' "The Second Coming"--a chilling vision of the End of Days--has somehow never seemed more prophetic.
Apocalypse now?
posted by elvira black @ 1:09 PM
Friday, January 06, 2006
Yeats' "The Second Coming"--a chilling vision of the End of Days--has somehow never seemed more prophetic.
Apocalypse now?
About Me
- Name: elvira black
- Location: New York City, United States
I'm a sometimes psychotic writer in NYC. I published reviews, features, and humor pieces for NYC papers. Until I fired myself. For private rants, e-mail me at bowlegarivle@yahoo.com.
Previous Posts
- Blogging from both sides of my brain
- Meme-o-rama!
- "I'm so excited!!!..."
- New York Story #4
- Happy blogyear!
- FREE Chinese Food!!!!
- Cleaning out the Shithouse
- New York Story #3
- A very Jewish Christmas
- How to succeed in blogging without really trying!
View My Stats
| www.flickr.com |
Technorati Profile
|
|
Does your weblog own you?
9 Comments:
Eh, what does it matter if it's now or ten years from now? I already know I'm going to hell, LOL
Maggs:
Well, the way I figure it, if the End Times are upon us, I don't want to miss the three ring circus that leads up to the Big Bang (or whimper). We've all gotta go sometime, and I think I'd rather check out together with everyone else and party beforehand like it's 2099.
Elvira, did you read "Le Mythe de Sisiph" of Albert Camus?
Frightening. I try to push these thoughts to the back of my mind, but the world gets smaller every day and the troubles of the world are suddenly our troubles.
Swifty:
To quote from the Ice Storm, one of my favorite movies about the seventies:
Scene: cocktail party; everyone is getting tight.
"Feeling no pain?"
"You know what the Indians say. Pain is just an opinion."
(That's American Indians, of which there are not many left, and the ones that ARE are generally dirt poor and pissed in your sense and probably in ours).
Presentism, huh? Well, that's probably been true since Adam and Eve got chucked out on their asses from the proverbial Garden of Eden. And in a sense, every time is probably worse (and better?) in some ways than the time before--in large part due to us.("It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..") But I digress.
I think The Second Coming is so effective because no matter what "present" you read it in--Yeats' or yours or anywhere in between--it still works to, as you say, care the living bejeezus out of you. But it also leaves me utterly awestruck every time I read it. That's what I call a Classic.
PS: thanks for your cool comments here and on Blogcritics!
Ivan:
No, I don't know if I've ever read much Camus. I'll look it up and check it out!
And once again, I am floored by your wonderful picture. It seems like a combo of a (post) modern day Magritte and a post-apocalyptic Planet of the Apes scenario, where at the end of the film Charlton Heston sees the torch of the Statue of Liberty upended on the beach. Awesome!
Paula:
As far as the state of the world, I feel like I'm simultaneously aware and in denial--like it's happening to us but not to me, or something. I think it's the only way we could possibly go on--if we got totally bent out of shape about all the horrors of the world 24/7, we wouldn't be able to function and tend to our own lives. Weird, huh?
I concur. Well, maybe. The end times have always been here. I sometimes wonder what church services were like during World War I and II. I remember reading Yeats in undergrad (circa 92) and thinking the same thing - War in the Gulf, terrorism, hurricanes, etc. Still, things could be escalating. With as small a view as I get through the media I can't say worldwide what really is happening. Of course, 9/11 happened and we were shocked, like we didn't know there were people capable of that.
digibrill:
"The end times have always been here"--profound statement! Could be interpreted many ways--as in, its been preordained (as you probably see it?); or creation and destruction are two sides of the same coin, as are life and death.
Since human's time on earth has been so relatively fleeting (I think this is true whether you believe in evolution or creationism, no?) saying the end times are upon us could mean anything from tomorrow to a thousand years from now.
I'm sure some in every generation have thought the end times were near (or something equivalent). Although it's been predicted many times, I have no problem believing this could really be It.
Post a Comment
<< Home