From the first words of the poem, we gain the sense that no one of good intention can exercise any control. The falcon soars to escape the control of the falconer. The center cannot hold ...

And over the century since, perhaps no poem has been more invoked for vexing times, to convey, in Yeats's own incomparable words, that: "Things fall apart; the center cannot hold; / Mere anarchy ...

The poem reflects the general sense of anomie Yeats felt following World War I, the Irish rebellion, and the Russian Revolution. “Things fall apart,” Yeats wrote, “the center cannot hold.” ...

The New York Times is on the case, publishing a column helpfully titled, “The Center Cannot Hold.” Times readers get the reference. What they get, of course, is a line from a William Butler Yeats poem ...

I was reminded of a William Butler Yeats poem called “The Second Coming ... Thus, the following: “Things fall apart, the center cannot hold. More anarchy is loosed upon the world, The ...

The poem, written in the immediate aftermath ... “Things fall apart; the center cannot hold,” writes Yeats. “The best lack all conviction, while the worst / Are full of passionate intensity.” ...

I was reminded of a William Butler Yeats poem called “The Second Coming,” that was written back in 1919 and has often been quoted. Thus, the following: “Things fall apart, the center cannot hold. More ...