The speaker of “The Second Coming” reveals nothing about their age, race, class, or gender identity. As such, we don’t know anything specific about them or their background. All we really know is that they believe themself to be living through a great social, political, and spiritual cataclysm. This situation has put them in a prophetic mood, which leads them to speculate about a dark future. The speaker’s speculations reveal their profoundly metaphysical outlook on the world. The most obvious indication of their interest in metaphysics comes with their reference to what they call the “Spiritus Mundi” (line 12). This Latin phrase literally means “world spirit,” and it references the idea that a vast and unknowable intelligence unifies a given historical age, thereby linking all those who live in it. The speaker claims that their vision comes from this world spirit, which they think legitimizes their prophecy. The speaker’s evident belief in the occult may divide readers with respect to how much we are willing to trust their vision. Readers who are drawn to metaphysical speculation will no doubt be more disturbed by the speaker’s prophecy than those who remain skeptical of the occult.

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