The Second Coming MCQ

The Second Coming

William Butler Yeats [1865-1939]

The Second Coming MCQ – 1 Mark Important Questions

72 Important Questions

Q1. The poet of the poem ‘The Second Coming’ is —

• (A) P B Shelley.
• (B) John Keats.
• (C) W B Yeats.
• (D) William Blake.

Q2. The poet wrote the poem ‘The Second Coming’ on the background of —

• (A) World War I.
• (B) World War II.
• (C) Franco Prussian War.
• (D) Cold War of Europe.

Q3. The title ‘The Second Coming’ got its reference from —

• (A) Hindu mythology.
• (B) socialistic theory.
• (C) Epicurean philosophy.
• (D) Biblical theology.

Q4. In Biblical view ‘The Second Coming’ refers to the coming of —

• (A) Moses.
• (B) Jesus Christ.
• (C) John the Baptist.
• (D) Abraham.

Q5. After the World War I the atmosphere of the whole world became —

• (A) orderly.
• (B) moderate.
• (C) tumultuous.
• (D) calm and quiet.

Q6. The falcon cannot hear —

• (A) the Sphinx.
• (B) the gyre.
• (C) Spiritus Mundi.
• (D) the falconer.

Q7. Here in the poem ‘gyre’ symbolically presents —

• (A) fate.
• (B) Christianity.
• (C) progress of time.
• (D) movement of earth.

Q8. ‘Turning and turning …..’ — As a result of this:

• (A) the spiral is widening.
• (B) things fall apart.
• (C) the centre cannot hold.
• (D) all of these.

Q9. As a result of the rapid motion, the things —

• (A) are lost
• (B) are dishevelled
• (C) are invisible
• (D) fall apart.

Q10. The thing loosed upon the world is —

• (A) innocence.
• (B) mere anarchy.
• (C) passionate intensity.
• (D) conviction.

Q11. According to the poet, the tide which dims the vision is —

• (A) tide of smoke.
• (B) tide of sea water.
• (C) tide of blood.
• (D) tide of anarchy.

Q12. The ceremony which is drowned is —

• (A) ceremony of blood.
• (B) ceremony of faith.
• (C) ceremony of innocence.
• (D) ceremony of joy.

Q13. _______ lack conviction. 

• (A) The best
• (B) The worst
• (C) The Christ
• (D) The beast

Q14. The best lack —

• (A) passionate intensity.
• (B) ceremony of innocence.
• (C) conviction.
• (D) courage.

Q15. The worst are full of —

• (A) innocence.
• (B) conviction.
• (C) passionate intensity.
• (D) anarchy.

Q16. According to the poet, ________ is at hand. 

• (A) The First Coming
• (B) The Second Coming
• (C) The First World War
• (D) The Second World War

Q17. ‘Hardly are those words out’ ____________ are referred to as ‘those words’. 

• (A) Spiritus Mundi
• (B) Passionate intensity
• (C) Blood-dimmed tide
• (D) The Second Coming

Q18. As soon as the words ‘The Second Coming’ are uttered, _________ troubles the sight of the speaker. 

• (A) mere anarchy
• (B) the ceremony of innocence
• (C) the blood-dimmed tide
• (D) a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi

Q19. The vast image is seen in —

• (A) a deep blue sea.
• (B) sands of the desert.
• (C) a green forest.
• (D) the firmament.

Q20. The body of the beast-like image is that of a —

• (A) lion.
• (B) tiger.
• (C) man.
• (D) dragon.

Q21. The head of the beast-like image is that of a —

• (A) lion.
• (B) tiger.
• (C) man.
• (D) dragon.

Q22. ‘….. while all about it /Reel shadows …’ — The ‘shadows’ are of:

• (A) Sphinx
• (B) phantoms
• (C) lions
• (D) desert birds.

Q23. Twenty centuries of stony sleep were vexed to nightmare by —

• (A) a rocking cradle.
• (B) rough beast.
• (C) sound sleep.
• (D) passionate intensity.

Q24. The beast slouches towards —

• (A) sands of desert.
• (B) Spiritus Mundi.
• (C) moving shadows.
• (D) Bethlehem.

Q25. The social condition Yeats described in his poem ‘The Second Coming’ is —

• (A) developing.
• (B) transforming towards positivity.
• (C) same.
• (D) breaking down.

Q26. ‘The Second Coming’ is filled with imageries suggesting —

• (A) a return to religious faith.
• (B) peace and prosperity.
• (C) chaos and disorder.
• (D) a utopia.

Q27. ‘The Second Coming’ is a/an —

• (A) ballad.
• (B) sonnet.
• (C) allegorical poem.
• (D) romantic poem.

Q28. W. B. Yeats’s poem ‘The Second Coming’ allegorically presents the time —

• (A) during the First World War.
• (B) after the First World War.
• (C) during the Second World War.
• (D) after the Second World War.

Q29. The poet W. B. Yeats wrote the poem ‘The Second Coming’ in —

• (A) 1918.
• (B) 1919.
• (C) 1920.
• (D) 1921.

Q30. For the first time the poem ‘The Second Coming’ was published in —

• (A) The Modern Poetry.
• (B) Songs and Sonnets.
• (C) The Dial.
• (D) Modern Poetry Collection.

Q31. Later the poem ‘The Second Coming’ was published again and included in —

• (A) Lyrical Ballads.
• (B) Songs of Experience.
• (C) Songs and Sonnets.
• (D) Michael Robartes and the Dancer.

Q32. The poet wrote his poem ‘The Second Coming’ in —

• (A) iambic pentameter.
• (B) rhyming couplet.
• (C) free verse.
• (D) triplet rhyme.

Q33. The first stanza of the poem captures —

• (A) political unrest.
• (B) violence.
• (C) moral decay.
• (D) all of these.

Q34. It is believed that the second coming of Jesus Christ to earth is to —

• (A) campaign his doctrine.
• (B) strengthen the mental condition of humanity.
• (C) be victorious over evil forces.
• (D) save humanity from sin.

Q35. The expression ‘widening gyre’ refers to —

• (A) a wide place.
• (B) a big circle.
• (C) a spiral.
• (D) a certain place which is getting wider day by day.

Q36. The ‘gyre’ is expanding in —

• (A) inward direction.
• (B) outward direction.
• (C) all sides.
• (D) getting contracted day by day.

Q37. Here ‘falcon’ is the symbol —

• (A) anarchy.
• (B) lawfulness.
• (C) authority.
• (D) order or control.

Q38. ‘Falconer’ represents —

• (A) order.
• (B) authority.
• (C) lawlessness.
• (D) violence.

Q39. The expression ‘falcon cannot hear the falconer’ suggests —

• (A) lack of wisdom.
• (B) lack of patience.
• (C) breakdown of communication.
• (D) centralization of power.

Q40. The ‘falcon’ and ‘falconer’ is used to show the relationship between —

• (A) friend and enemy.
• (B) society and people.
• (C) controller and the controlled.
• (D) man and nature.

Q41. The society being broken down, everywhere there prevails —

• (A) order.
• (B) chaos.
• (C) peace.
• (D) corruption.

Q42. The expression ‘centre cannot hold’ indicates —

• (A) loss of a centralized figure.
• (B) loss of stability and order.
• (C) loss of civic sense.
• (D) loss of Jesus Christ.

Q43. Mere ________ is loosed upon the world. 

• (A) justice
• (B) anarchy
• (C) democracy
• (D) foolishness.

Q44. The use of the word ‘mere’ before ‘anarchy’ indicates —

• (A) absolute lawlessness.
• (B) absolute freedom.
• (C) absolute wisdom.
• (D) absolute order and peace.

Q45. Through the expression ‘the ceremony of innocence is drowned’ the view of the poet that is exposed is —

• (A) optimistic
• (B) disagreement
• (C) ceremonial
• (D) apocalyptic.

Q46. The people who lack conviction is —

• (A) good.
• (B) bad.
• (C) old.
• (D) young.

Q47. In the time of turmoil the people who feel passionate are —

• (A) good.
• (B) bad.
• (C) indifferent.
• (D) uninterested.

Q48. The first stanza of the poem depicts —

• (A) complete freedom.
• (B) total development.
• (C) cosmic development.
• (D) total chaos.

Q49. Repetition of the word ‘surely’ shows the poet’s —

• (A) desperate attitude for a change.
• (B) faith on humanity.
• (C) indifferent attitude.
• (D) stoicism.

Q50. There is the reference of Jesus Christ’s second coming to earth in —

• (A) The Book of Nature.
• (B) The Book of Salvation.
• (C) The Book of Revelation.
• (D) The Book of John.

Q51. The image of ‘Spiritus Mundi’ is —

• (A) tiny.
• (B) very big.
• (C) absurd.
• (D) broken.

Q52. The expression ‘Spiritus Mundi’ can roughly be said as —

• (A) a world spirit.
• (B) a collection of memories.
• (C) some recollection of spirit.
• (D) the energetic spirits.

Q53. To the poet the emergence of the vast image of ‘Spiritus Mundi’ is —

• (A) benevolent.
• (B) attractive.
• (C) troubling.
• (D) soothing.

Q54. The poet’s reference of ‘desert’ indicates —

• (A) hope.
• (B) crowded place.
• (C) complete desolation.
• (D) overwhelming situation.

Q55. The shape of the lion body with human head has a close similarity with —

• (A) a dragon.
• (B) a dinosaur.
• (C) a gorilla.
• (D) Sphinx.

Q56. The appearance of the gigantic creature is —

• (A) merciless.
• (B) kind-hearted.
• (C) faithful.
• (D) friendly.

Q57. The gaze of the gigantic creature —

• (A) blank and fearful.
• (B) kind and blank.
• (C) timid and kind.
• (D) merciless and blank.

Q58. The movement of the gigantic creature is —

• (A) slow.
• (B) fast.
• (C) majestic.
• (D) superfast.

Q59. In the poem ‘The Second Coming’ the ‘desert birds’ are —

• (A) satisfied.
• (B) inspiring.
• (C) indignant.
• (D) lively.

Q60. According to the poet, the thing which is going to drop again is —

• (A) peace and prosperity.
• (B) enjoyment.
• (C) superstition.
• (D) darkness.

Q61. Yeats says that the time span of the ‘stony sleep’ of the world is —

• (A) two hundred years.
• (B) twenty two years.
• (C) two thousand years.
• (D) two years.

Q62. In ‘The Second Coming’ the ‘desert birds’ are —

• (A) seagulls.
• (B) falcons.
• (C) vultures.
• (D) crows.

Q63. In ‘rocking cradle’ the cradle is rocking due to —

• (A) a violent storm.
• (B) windfall.
• (C) without any reason.
• (D) political upheaval.

Q64. The ‘stony sleep’ in ‘The Second Coming’ had ultimately become —

• (A) more deep sleep.
• (B) nightmare.
• (C) reverie.
• (D) light sleep.

Q65. The believers of Apocalyptic vision think that —

• (A) the society is developing gradually.
• (B) the society is coming to an end.
• (C) the society has become stagnant.
• (D) the society is nearly at its peak of development.

Q66. The central theme of the poem ‘The Second Coming’ is —

• (A) romantic love.
• (B) biblical teaching.
• (C) social upheaval and chaos.
• (D) religious enrichment.

Q67. In ‘The Second Coming’ ____________ are used as a symbol of chaos. 

• (A) eagle and parrot
• (B) Sphinx and lion
• (C) seagull and eagle
• (D) falcon and falconer

Q68. The phrase ‘the blood-dimmed tide’ indicates the emotion of —

• (A) excitement.
• (B) happiness.
• (C) fear.
• (D) hope.

Q69. According to the poet, ___________ is ‘slouching towards Bethlehem to be born’.

• (A) new area of peace
• (B) resurrection of Jesus Christ
• (C) rebirth of civilization
• (D) Anti-Christ

Q70. In ‘The Second Coming’ the phrase ‘rough beast’ refers to —

• (A) a lion.
• (B) the narrator.
• (C) the Anti-Christ.
• (D) the Sphinx.

Q71. In Yeats’s ‘The Second Coming’ the ‘rough beast’ symbolises —

• (A) a dragon.
• (B) a monster.
• (C) a revolutionary movement.
• (D) an apocalypse.

Q72. ‘Things fall apart’ — What does the line suggest?

• (A) All things are centralized and connected to the company.
• (B) Everything is defused and constant.
• (C) All things are bound together for authorities.
• (D) All things are shattered on the ground.