Themes

• Chaos and Disorder: The world is no longer under control. People have lost direction. Good people stay quiet, and bad people become powerful. The poet says, “Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold.” This means the center of life—truth, law, order—is broken. Everything is full of confusion and fear.
• Fear of the Future: Yeats feels that something strange and dangerous is coming. It is not a good future. He imagines a wild beast waking up and moving towards Bethlehem. This future brings no peace. The poet is worried and confused about what will happen next. He sees the future as dark and scary.