Halloween approaches, friends, and what better way to ring it in than with the scariest freakin’ poem in the English language? That’s right: we’re bringing out W.B. Yeats’s “The Second Coming.”
You know it’s bad when “Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world” (l.4). I mean, anarchy is bad, not just “mere,” right? Really bad, à la The Dark Knight Rises? Turns out that’s just the start:
And then there’s the Big Bad, as fellow Joss Whedon fans* might say: a thing, its gaze “blank and pitiless as the sun,” “A shape with lion body and the head of a man.” It’s the formlessness that’s frightening; there’s no sign of intelligence in the blank eyes. It’s inexorable, this shape. It’s not a lion with a man’s head, but a shape. And get this: it’s “moving its slow thighs.” It’s in no great rush to destroy the world, because the destruction is inevitable. If that doesn’t give you the creeps, I don’t know what will.
Wait a second. Yes I do. This will:
*First Evil, anyone?
[Honorable Mention, Children’s Category: “Seein’ Things,” Eugene Fields]
What’s your pick for scariest poem?
Rosemary and Reading Glasses 
The Highwayman is a nice old ghost poem. I don’t know if it’s really scary, though. I love your choices!
Oh, I do like the highwayman! What a ballad!
Love this, Carolyn! I’m not sure I’ve ever read the poem in its entirety — a travesty, I know — so thanks for the link. It is absolutely frightening, the imagery is gripping! Would love to be able to bring a little of that to my own work — well, minus the creep factor. 😉
I love “The Raven” though I suppose it would be cited by most folks. On the long side, I really like Byron’s “Manfred” and then there is Sylvia Plath’s “Pursuit”.
Cheers, you!
Ooh, good choices all! Cheers to you, too — will email soon 🙂
Girl, I’m way overdue for sending one your way. I’ve not forgotten, just in a bind time-wise. We’ll connect sooner or later. 🙂
T.S. Eliot’s “The Hollow Men” is the creepiest for me.
“This is the way the world ends Not with a bang but a whimper” We aren’t even important enough for a big exit.
Mmm, I love that one. I remember giving a presentation on it in high school and then revisiting it for my college thesis. The rats are what get to me.
The Raven is all I remember too, given my limited experience with poetry, but it’s a good one! Thanks for the introduction here!
Totally respectable!
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