Question

6. How is the image of the "shape with lion body and the head of a man" (Line 14) important to the poem as a whole?

Answer 1

Answer:

the line comes from W B Yeats' poem 'The Second Coming' and describes the image of the Sphinx to show that civilization can fall to nightmarish proportions.

Explanation:

the second coming is argued to be about the second coming of Christ and a dogmatic nihilistic view that humans are irredeemable depending on who interprets it. the theme however, is redemption and the image that springs up is the fall of order. 'things fall apart' in the earlier lines of the poem.

the lion with the face of man represents the bestiality of mankind in the nightmarish image of a desert that Yeats describes. Sphinx of Egypt is a counterpart in reality, a testament to the fall of a once great civilization. hence, the image serves to show the non divinity of humans and the need to be saved by the second coming of Christ.