Textual Question with Answer
1. What is the symbol of the “rough beast” as mentioned in the poem?
a) A monster
b) A saviour
c) A revolution
d) An apocalypse
✅ Correct answer: d) An apocalypse
🟢 Easy Explanation:
The rough beast is a symbol of the end of the current world order — not a savior, but a sign of destruction and terror. It represents the arrival of something dark, powerful, and dangerous — what we call an apocalypse (the end of the world or a terrible change).
2. “Things fall apart”… This suggests
a) All things are centralized
b) Everything is defused
c) All things are bound together
d) All things are shattered on the ground
✅ Correct answer: d) All things are shattered on the ground
🟢 Easy Explanation:
The line means that everything is breaking down — society, rules, peace — like things falling to the ground and breaking into pieces. It shows loss of control and collapse of what once held the world together.
MCQs: “The Second Coming” by W.B. Yeats
1. What is the poetic form of “The Second Coming”?
A. Sonnet
B. Free verse
C. Ballad
D. Limerick
✅ Answer: B. Free verse
2. What does the word gyre in the first line mean?
A. A straight path
B. A downward slope
C. A spiral or circular motion
D. A hill
✅ Answer: C. A spiral or circular motion
3. What is happening to the falcon in the poem’s beginning?
A. It lands safely
B. It disappears into the sun
C. It cannot hear the falconer
D. It attacks the falconer
✅ Answer: C. It cannot hear the falconer
4. What does the falcon symbolize?
A. Love and peace
B. Nature and growth
C. Civilization losing control
D. Magic and mystery
✅ Answer: C. Civilization losing control
5. What does the line “Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold” suggest?
A. Political peace
B. Chaos and collapse
C. Celebration of freedom
D. Beauty in art
✅ Answer: B. Chaos and collapse
6. The word anarchy in line 4 means:
A. Order
B. Lawfulness
C. Disorder and confusion
D. Celebration
✅ Answer: C. Disorder and confusion
7. What kind of tide is mentioned in the poem?
A. Bright tide
B. Green tide
C. Blood-dimmed tide
D. Starry tide
✅ Answer: C. Blood-dimmed tide
8. The “ceremony of innocence” being drowned symbolizes:
A. Children playing
B. Loss of purity and morality
C. A religious event
D. A peaceful ritual
✅ Answer: B. Loss of purity and morality
9. According to the poet, who lacks all conviction?
A. The worst
B. The best
C. The animals
D. The leaders
✅ Answer: B. The best
10. The phrase “the worst are full of passionate intensity” implies:
A. Evil is quiet
B. The worst people are inactive
C. The worst are aggressive and loud
D. All people are gentle
✅ Answer: C. The worst are aggressive and loud
11. What is the tone of the first stanza?
A. Calm and hopeful
B. Joyful and musical
C. Dark and foreboding
D. Romantic and dreamy
✅ Answer: C. Dark and foreboding
12. What is the poet expecting in the line “Surely some revelation is at hand”?
A. A peaceful message
B. A religious festival
C. A great and important event
D. A letter
✅ Answer: C. A great and important event
13. What does “Second Coming” originally refer to in Christianity?
A. Birth of Buddha
B. Return of Christ
C. Rise of democracy
D. Destruction of earth
✅ Answer: B. Return of Christ
14. In the poem, what does the Second Coming appear to be?
A. A happy reunion
B. A divine rescue
C. A dark and frightening vision
D. A festival
✅ Answer: C. A dark and frightening vision
15. What is Spiritus Mundi?
A. A book of laws
B. A personal dream
C. A world soul or collective spirit
D. A location in Greece
✅ Answer: C. A world soul or collective spirit
16. What type of image comes out of the Spiritus Mundi?
A. A dancing woman
B. A talking tree
C. A beast with lion’s body and man’s head
D. A peaceful angel
✅ Answer: C. A beast with lion’s body and man’s head
17. What is the gaze of the beast compared to?
A. A glowing star
B. A soft flame
C. The sun – blank and pitiless
D. The moon – silent and cold
✅ Answer: C. The sun – blank and pitiless
18. Where is the beast seen in the poem?
A. On a mountain
B. In a forest
C. In the desert
D. On a ship
✅ Answer: C. In the desert
19. What are the birds doing around the beast?
A. Singing sweetly
B. Building nests
C. Flying in fear
D. Reeling in anger
✅ Answer: D. Reeling in anger
20. What do the birds in the desert symbolize?
A. Calm and quiet
B. Nature’s beauty
C. Disturbance and disorder
D. Harmony with nature
✅ Answer: C. Disturbance and disorder
21. What happens after the beast appears?
A. Light fills the sky
B. Darkness drops again
C. The beast disappears
D. People celebrate
✅ Answer: B. Darkness drops again
22. What does Yeats mean by “twenty centuries of stony sleep”?
A. A time of deep peace
B. Time since the Roman Empire
C. The 2,000 years of Christian influence
D. Time spent in space
✅ Answer: C. The 2,000 years of Christian influence
23. What awakens the “stony sleep”?
A. A roaring lion
B. A baby crying in a cradle
C. Thunder and lightning
D. Bells ringing
✅ Answer: B. A baby crying in a cradle
24. What is Yeats suggesting through the rocking cradle?
A. A peaceful birth
B. Beginning of nightmares and fear
C. A religious miracle
D. A lullaby
✅ Answer: B. Beginning of nightmares and fear
25. What is slouching toward Bethlehem at the end of the poem?
A. An angel
B. The beast
C. A king
D. A wise man
✅ Answer: B. The beast
26. What does the word “slouches” suggest?
A. Walking with pride
B. Walking lazily or in a creepy way
C. Running fast
D. Sleeping
✅ Answer: B. Walking lazily or in a creepy way
27. Why is Bethlehem mentioned at the end?
A. It’s where Jesus was born
B. It’s a desert city
C. It’s where the beast lives
D. It’s a symbol of politics
✅ Answer: A. It’s where Jesus was born
28. The poem ends with a feeling of:
A. Peace and relief
B. Joy and celebration
C. Dread and fear
D. Confusion and doubt
✅ Answer: C. Dread and fear
29. Which war deeply influenced Yeats to write this poem?
A. World War II
B. Irish Civil War
C. World War I
D. Napoleonic War
✅ Answer: C. World War I
30. What is the central theme of the poem?
A. Hope and rebirth
B. Political victory
C. Collapse of civilization and rise of evil
D. Childhood dreams
✅ Answer: C. Collapse of civilization and rise of evil
31. What figure is completely missing from the poem?
A. Jesus
B. Animals
C. People
D. Love
✅ Answer: A. Jesus
32. What does Yeats fear the future holds?
A. Love and peace
B. A second war
C. The rise of a dark force
D. A natural disaster
✅ Answer: C. The rise of a dark force
33. How does Yeats feel about modern times?
A. Excited and hopeful
B. Sad but proud
C. Afraid and worried
D. Indifferent
✅ Answer: C. Afraid and worried
34. What is the poetic device used in “Things fall apart”?
A. Metaphor
B. Simile
C. Alliteration
D. Onomatopoeia
✅ Answer: A. Metaphor
35. What literary device is used in “blood-dimmed tide”?
A. Metaphor
B. Alliteration
C. Irony
D. Hyperbole
✅ Answer: A. Metaphor
36. What does “passionate intensity” refer to?
A. Excited innocence
B. Strong negative energy
C. Joyful celebration
D. Calm discussion
✅ Answer: B. Strong negative energy
37. What does the rocking cradle suggest metaphorically?
A. Hope and life
B. Birth of a new evil
C. Childhood memories
D. Family traditions
✅ Answer: B. Birth of a new evil
38. What kind of language does the poet use?
A. Simple and direct
B. Figurative and symbolic
C. Conversational
D. Technical and scientific
✅ Answer: B. Figurative and symbolic
39. What is the rhyme scheme of the poem?
A. ABAB
B. AABB
C. No fixed rhyme
D. AAAA
✅ Answer: C. No fixed rhyme
40. What type of beast is described?
A. A dragon
B. A lion with a human head
C. A unicorn
D. A two-headed serpent
✅ Answer: B. A lion with a human head
41. “Blank and pitiless as the sun” is an example of:
A. Simile
B. Metaphor
C. Personification
D. Hyperbole
✅ Answer: A. Simile
42. What role does nature play in this poem?
A. Source of joy
B. Passive background
C. Symbol of disturbance and change
D. Peaceful beauty
✅ Answer: C. Symbol of disturbance and change
43. What is the mood created by the poem?
A. Calm
B. Romantic
C. Anxious and fearful
D. Cheerful
✅ Answer: C. Anxious and fearful
44. What is the significance of “twenty centuries”?
A. Refers to human evolution
B. Refers to the time since Christ’s birth
C. Refers to ancient Greece
D. Refers to scientific progress
✅ Answer: B. Refers to the time since Christ’s birth
45. How does the poem portray innocence?
A. Protected
B. Celebrated
C. Drowned and lost
D. Praised by others
✅ Answer: C. Drowned and lost
46. “The centre cannot hold” refers to:
A. A person falling
B. Collapse of core values or systems
C. Family issues
D. A broken machine
✅ Answer: B. Collapse of core values or systems
47. What does the beast’s birth symbolize?
A. A new hope
B. A dark age beginning
C. A physical war
D. A hero’s arrival
✅ Answer: B. A dark age beginning
48. The word slouches gives what impression of the beast?
A. Strong and upright
B. Relaxed and friendly
C. Lazy, strange, and frightening
D. Fast and urgent
✅ Answer: C. Lazy, strange, and frightening
49. Why is the vision “troubling” for the poet?
A. It reminds him of love
B. It is joyful
C. It shows terror, not salvation
D. It is colorful
✅ Answer: C. It shows terror, not salvation
50. What is the central conflict in the poem?
A. Man vs. nature
B. Old world vs. new, dark future
C. War vs. peace
D. Truth vs. lies
✅ Answer: B. Old world vs. new, dark future
51. Which literary device is used in “The falcon cannot hear the falconer”?
A. Personification
B. Irony
C. Symbolism
D. Onomatopoeia
✅ Answer: C. Symbolism
52. The “widening gyre” may also symbolize:
A. Deeper understanding
B. Expansion of love
C. Uncontrollable change or historical cycle
D. Peaceful nature
✅ Answer: C. Uncontrollable change or historical cycle
53. What does the poet expect to come with the Second Coming?
A. Salvation
B. Death and destruction
C. Celebration
D. Angels
✅ Answer: B. Death and destruction
54. What does the beast’s “blank and pitiless” gaze tell us?
A. It is sleepy
B. It feels sorry for humans
C. It has no emotion or mercy
D. It is thinking
✅ Answer: C. It has no emotion or mercy
55. What is the tone of the poem’s second stanza?
A. Romantic
B. Mysterious and terrifying
C. Joyful
D. Comic
✅ Answer: B. Mysterious and terrifying
56. What causes Yeats to have the troubling vision?
A. The words “Second Coming”
B. A dream
C. A prayer
D. A history book
✅ Answer: A. The words “Second Coming”
57. The poem can be seen as a warning about:
A. Political reforms
B. Future revolutions or collapse
C. Artistic change
D. Religious rituals
✅ Answer: B. Future revolutions or collapse
58. The beast’s movement is described as:
A. Graceful
B. Joyful
C. Slow and disturbing
D. Quick and sudden
✅ Answer: C. Slow and disturbing
59. “Darkness drops again” means:
A. It is nighttime
B. Light returns
C. Fear or ignorance comes back
D. A solar eclipse
✅ Answer: C. Fear or ignorance comes back
60. What poetic device is used in “vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle”?
A. Hyperbole
B. Irony
C. Alliteration
D. Metaphor
✅ Answer: D. Metaphor
61. The phrase “stony sleep” suggests:
A. Death or unawareness
B. Relaxing dreams
C. Joyful peace
D. Sharp awakening
✅ Answer: A. Death or unawareness
62. Which theme does the beast most clearly represent?
A. Love and hope
B. Rebirth of beauty
C. Rise of evil or destructive power
D. Peace through war
✅ Answer: C. Rise of evil or destructive power
63. The line “And what rough beast…” implies:
A. A child’s birth
B. A heroic return
C. A mysterious and dangerous arrival
D. A prophet’s vision
✅ Answer: C. A mysterious and dangerous arrival
64. The poem is filled with what type of imagery?
A. Pleasant and romantic
B. Nature and farming
C. Dark, violent, and mysterious
D. Comedic
✅ Answer: C. Dark, violent, and mysterious
65. What is the central symbol of chaos in the first stanza?
A. A clock
B. The falcon
C. A tree
D. A dove
✅ Answer: B. The falcon
66. The “rocking cradle” most likely refers to:
A. Birth of peace
B. Calm music
C. A child’s birth leading to chaos
D. Nature’s rhythm
✅ Answer: C. A child’s birth leading to chaos
67. What kind of rhythm does the poem follow?
A. Regular and musical
B. Rigid meter
C. Loose and unpredictable
D. Rhyming couplets
✅ Answer: C. Loose and unpredictable
68. Yeats believed that history moves in:
A. Circles or gyres
B. A straight line
C. Triangles
D. Random patterns only
✅ Answer: A. Circles or gyres
69. In what year was this poem written?
A. 1900
B. 1919
C. 1945
D. 1895
✅ Answer: B. 1919
70. What global event deeply influenced this poem?
A. French Revolution
B. World War I
C. American Civil War
D. Cold War
✅ Answer: B. World War I
71. Why does Yeats refer to Bethlehem at the end?
A. It’s a political center
B. To show hope
C. To link with Christ’s birth and contrast it
D. It’s where the war happened
✅ Answer: C. To link with Christ’s birth and contrast it
72. The phrase “the best lack all conviction” implies:
A. Good people don’t care
B. Good people are confused and inactive
C. The best are perfect
D. The best are strong
✅ Answer: B. Good people are confused and inactive
73. “Spiritus Mundi” is best described as:
A. The poet’s private dream
B. World soul or shared unconscious mind
C. Religious prayer
D. Book of the dead
✅ Answer: B. World soul or shared unconscious mind
74. What poetic technique is used in the line “Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds”?
A. Simile
B. Irony
C. Imagery and personification
D. Rhyme
✅ Answer: C. Imagery and personification
75. The main emotion created in the reader by this poem is:
A. Joy
B. Peace
C. Unease or fear
D. Humor
✅ Answer: C. Unease or fear
76. What is Yeats’s personal belief shown in this poem?
A. Peace is always near
B. History repeats in destructive cycles
C. Technology is dangerous
D. Nature will save humanity
✅ Answer: B. History repeats in destructive cycles
77. The word “rough” in “rough beast” suggests:
A. Soft and kind
B. Beautiful and elegant
C. Wild, unrefined, and dangerous
D. Religious
✅ Answer: C. Wild, unrefined, and dangerous
78. The line “blood-dimmed tide” connects to:
A. Emotional confusion
B. War and violence
C. Flood of love
D. Natural disaster
✅ Answer: B. War and violence
79. The word “anarchy” suggests:
A. Rule by law
B. Freedom
C. Complete disorder and lack of control
D. New religion
✅ Answer: C. Complete disorder and lack of control
80. What poetic device is used in “Turning and turning in the widening gyre”?
A. Simile
B. Repetition
C. Personification
D. Irony
✅ Answer: B. Repetition
81. What does Yeats fear will happen in the future?
A. Technological rise
B. Peaceful world
C. Evil will grow stronger
D. The sun will die
✅ Answer: C. Evil will grow stronger
82. The line “Surely the Second Coming is at hand” expresses:
A. Joy
B. Question
C. Confidence with doubt
D. Denial
✅ Answer: C. Confidence with doubt
83. What kind of beast does Yeats imagine?
A. A savior
B. A mythic god
C. A monster with lion body and human head
D. A soldier
✅ Answer: C. A monster with lion body and human head
84. How does the poem show contrast between good and evil?
A. By comparing heaven and earth
B. By saying good people are weak and bad ones are strong
C. By showing a love story
D. Through historical events
✅ Answer: B. By saying good people are weak and bad ones are strong
85. What is the effect of the beast “slouching” toward Bethlehem?
A. Brings peace
B. Brings fear of something unnatural being born
C. Suggests lazy behavior
D. Celebrates holy birth
✅ Answer: B. Brings fear of something unnatural being born
86. What religion influences this poem the most?
A. Hinduism
B. Christianity
C. Buddhism
D. Paganism
✅ Answer: B. Christianity
87. What does the desert setting symbolize?
A. Prosperity
B. Emptiness and spiritual dryness
C. Celebration
D. A holy place
✅ Answer: B. Emptiness and spiritual dryness
88. Why might Yeats have used the word “pitiless”?
A. To show the beast is caring
B. To describe the sun
C. To express the coldness of the future
D. To describe beauty
✅ Answer: C. To express the coldness of the future
89. Why does the falcon no longer hear the falconer?
A. It is flying too far
B. It is dead
C. It is asleep
D. It is rebelling
✅ Answer: A. It is flying too far
90. What kind of poem is “The Second Coming”?
A. Lyrical nature poem
B. Religious hymn
C. Symbolic and apocalyptic poem
D. Narrative poem
✅ Answer: C. Symbolic and apocalyptic poem
91. What does the line “Troubles my sight” show?
A. The poet is blind
B. The poet is confused by a troubling vision
C. The poet has eye problems
D. The poet is happy
✅ Answer: B. The poet is confused by a troubling vision
92. What does “vexed” mean in the line “vexed to nightmare”?
A. Comforted
B. Challenged
C. Disturbed and upset
D. Strengthened
✅ Answer: C. Disturbed and upset
93. What do the “shadows of the indignant desert birds” represent?
A. Beauty
B. Celebration
C. Anger and confusion
D. Storms
✅ Answer: C. Anger and confusion
94. What do many critics consider this poem to be?
A. A love poem
B. A children’s poem
C. A prophecy of modern horror
D. A patriotic anthem
✅ Answer: C. A prophecy of modern horror
95. What is the poet’s attitude toward modern society?
A. Admiration
B. Joy
C. Disappointment and fear
D. Hope
✅ Answer: C. Disappointment and fear
96. Which of these best describes the beast?
A. Beautiful, peaceful
B. Merciful and bright
C. Powerful, inhuman, and terrifying
D. Weak and gentle
✅ Answer: C. Powerful, inhuman, and terrifying
97. What does “loosed upon the world” imply?
A. Controlled entry
B. Freedom and joy
C. Sudden release of chaos
D. A guided plan
✅ Answer: C. Sudden release of chaos
98. What feeling does Yeats seem to want the reader to have?
A. Hope and pride
B. Calm and joy
C. Fear and thoughtfulness
D. Excitement
✅ Answer: C. Fear and thoughtfulness
99. How does Yeats use imagery in the poem?
A. To describe love
B. To create fear and spiritual warning
C. To praise leaders
D. To celebrate nature
✅ Answer: B. To create fear and spiritual warning
100. What is the meaning of “its hour come round at last”?
A. Time for sleep
B. Time for fun
C. The beast’s time has finally arrived
D. The war is over
✅ Answer: C. The beast’s time has finally arrived
101. What is the main mood of the entire poem?
A. Joyful
B. Humorous
C. Dark and fearful
D. Calm and relaxed
✅ Answer: C. Dark and fearful
102. “Turning and turning in the widening gyre” sets the tone of:
A. Harmony
B. Confusion and instability
C. Peace and love
D. Growth and learning
✅ Answer: B. Confusion and instability
103. The poem suggests that history is:
A. Always improving
B. Controlled by governments
C. Repeating in destructive cycles
D. Random and meaningless
✅ Answer: C. Repeating in destructive cycles
104. The poem uses biblical references mostly to:
A. Promote religion
B. Celebrate Jesus
C. Create contrast and deeper meaning
D. Tell a story from the Bible
✅ Answer: C. Create contrast and deeper meaning
105. Who is the speaker of the poem?
A. A religious leader
B. The beast itself
C. A concerned observer/poet
D. A child
✅ Answer: C. A concerned observer/poet
106. The poem was first published in which collection?
A. The Tower
B. The Wild Swans at Coole
C. The Winding Stair
D. The Dial
✅ Answer: D. The Dial
107. Yeats was a part of which literary movement?
A. Romanticism
B. Modernism
C. Realism
D. Transcendentalism
✅ Answer: B. Modernism
108. What global emotion after WWI is reflected in this poem?
A. Celebration
B. Fear and despair
C. Curiosity
D. Excitement
✅ Answer: B. Fear and despair
109. The poem begins with a scene of:
A. Celebration
B. Natural beauty
C. Disorientation and loss of control
D. Religious ceremony
✅ Answer: C. Disorientation and loss of control
110. “Things fall apart” later inspired:
A. A musical
B. A famous novel title by Chinua Achebe
C. A war documentary
D. A painting
✅ Answer: B. A famous novel title by Chinua Achebe
111. Which of these is not an image used in the poem?
A. Falcon and falconer
B. Desert and birds
C. Flowers and rivers
D. Rocking cradle
✅ Answer: C. Flowers and rivers
112. What does the falconer represent?
A. Nature
B. Logic
C. Order and control
D. A hunter
✅ Answer: C. Order and control
113. “The best lack all conviction” is a critique of:
A. Political leaders
B. Weak good people
C. Children
D. Artists
✅ Answer: B. Weak good people
114. Yeats believed in which mystical theory that influenced this poem?
A. Astrology
B. Theosophy and spiritual cycles
C. Humanism
D. Marxism
✅ Answer: B. Theosophy and spiritual cycles
115. Why is the “rough beast” born in Bethlehem significant?
A. It will become king
B. Bethlehem is where peace began, now evil replaces it
C. It’s a popular city
D. It’s a symbol of nature
✅ Answer: B. Bethlehem is where peace began, now evil replaces it
116. What kind of structure does the poem have?
A. Narrative with plot
B. Logical argument
C. Two-part reflective structure
D. Riddle format
✅ Answer: C. Two-part reflective structure
117. What literary device is used in “slouches towards Bethlehem to be born”?
A. Onomatopoeia
B. Simile
C. Irony
D. Imagery and personification
✅ Answer: D. Imagery and personification
118. The beast is an anti-symbol of:
A. Peace and salvation
B. War and conquest
C. Nature and wildlife
D. Law and punishment
✅ Answer: A. Peace and salvation
119. The “Second Coming” in this poem is more about:
A. Religious awakening
B. Historical education
C. The arrival of something dangerous and powerful
D. Forgiveness
✅ Answer: C. The arrival of something dangerous and powerful
120. The poem can also be seen as a response to:
A. A love affair
B. A scientific discovery
C. Moral and spiritual breakdown in the modern world
D. Victory in sports
✅ Answer: C. Moral and spiritual breakdown in the modern world
121. The use of “Spiritus Mundi” reflects Yeats’s interest in:
A. Latin literature
B. Political speeches
C. Collective unconscious and vision
D. Classical mythology
✅ Answer: C. Collective unconscious and vision
122. What word best describes the final line of the poem?
A. Humorous
B. Comforting
C. Haunting
D. Peaceful
✅ Answer: C. Haunting
123. The main idea of the poem is:
A. Warning about the future
B. Celebration of religion
C. Praise for nature
D. Advice to kings
✅ Answer: A. Warning about the future
124. What technique does Yeats use most in this poem?
A. Irony and paradox
B. Satire
C. Sarcasm
D. Comedy
✅ Answer: A. Irony and paradox
125. The title “The Second Coming” is:
A. Literal
B. Ironic and symbolic
C. Comic
D. Scientific
✅ Answer: B. Ironic and symbolic
