Excerpts from Books and Wikipedia
"The poem uses Christian imagery regarding the Apocalypse and second coming allegorically to describe the atmosphere of post-war Europe. . . . a major work of Modernist poetry and has been reprinted in several collections, including The Norton Anthology of Modern Poetry." [Wikipedia]
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, . . .
Surely some revelation is at hand; . . .
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?