The Second Coming

Then:
As students of English Literature, my friends and I would often irreverently discuss why a poet wrote a particular poem. We studied poems by looking at the age that it was written in, poet's influences, why he wrote a particular poem when he did and also how it was received among his peers. We often wondered whether we were reading too much into a particular work when all a poet had done was string a few words together.

Now:
Reading about recent events in Tunisia made me curious to know more about what was happening to its neighbours. That and Chuckles' return to blogging.

One man, Mohammed Bouazizi, protesting in Tunisia, was enough to set off the Jasmine Revolution and drive Zine el Abidine Ben Ali out of the country. It was followed closely by solidarity protests in Egypt, Algerian protests over unemployment and protests in Mauritiana over corruption and tyranny of the government.

Bouazizi had had enough. He sparked off a movement. A movement that seems to have spiraled across north Africa. What will this end in? Will this lead to popular governance in north Africa and the Middle East? Will tyrants be driven out of the countries they have destroyed? Will it spread to other continents? Is it finally time for people to wake up, have they had enough? Is this the part of the Wikileaks saga, governments are terrified about?

Students of literature often find themselves seeking comfort and meaning by going back to familiar works. For me, today - The Second Coming - WB Yeats. Offering new meaning every time I read it.