The Yeats Poem that Best Captures the Pessimism of The Sopranos
From modern television shows to The Godfather, the work of art referenced in The Sopranos that best captures the mood of the show is “The Second Coming.”
You’re reading a guest post on PopPoetry by Rebecca Grenham. Rebecca is a writer based in Washington, DC. Her work has appeared in Channel Void, Narcity Media, and other publications. Follow her on Instagram @rebecca_g_r.
CW: The following post discusses a suicide attempt and may be upsetting for some readers. It also contains spoilers for the HBO show, The Sopranos.
Published shortly after the First World War, W.B. Yeats’s “The Second Coming” is both a bloody description of the world ending and a cynical tale of what comes next. “Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,” Yeats writes, describing a chaotic apocalypse with phrases such as “things fall apart; the center cannot hold; mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.” In the second stanza, Yeats turns the story of a Christian Second Coming on its head when he describes a “rough beast” awakening after centuries of sleep. The world’s end will not herald a brighter future. Instead, it’ll make the pain we’ve experienced look paltry—and there’s nothing we can do about it.
Though a poem written in war-torn Europe and a hit TV show about the modern American mafia may depict vastly different worlds, both invoke the same cynicism and sense of gloom that can feel pervasive in the modern world. Both works of art note that we have little reason to believe that the future will magically be brighter than the present, and, in fact, the chaos underway today is likely only the beginning of a period of further anarchy. The Sopranos leads us to this conclusion over multiple seasons, and by the end, the show’s world is marred with violent mob war. That’s why when the Yeats poem is finally referenced in the third to last episode, it fits perfectly.
Tony Soprano, the Sad Clown
From the show’s beginning, we learn that Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), the lead, feels like his world is worsening. The show opens with Tony visiting a psychiatrist, Dr. Melfi (Lorraine Bracco), to discuss a recent collapse he had that his doctors suspect was a panic attack. When pressed about the drivers of his anxiety, Tony starts, “It’s good to be in something from the ground floor, and I came too late for that, I know. But lately, I’m getting the feeling that I came in at the end. The best is over.”
Melfi doesn’t contradict his analysis, concurring that many Americans also feel the same way. In Tony’s world, the feeling is particularly acute. The Italian-American mafia is long past its glory days, and according to Tony, more men are willing to become informants than in times past. Though Tony is high up in his mob family, reaching boss is not all it’s cracked up to be. As Tony points out on multiple occasions, the only end for a boss is either prison or death. Tony’s personal life is also fraught. He’s long been married to his wife, Carmela (Lorraine Bracco), but his repeated infidelity has put so much strain on their relationship that the two are clearly past their joyful days together. It’s no wonder Tony says he feels like a “sad clown, laughing on the outside, crying on the inside.”
On some level, Tony recognizes that his work is morally wrong, yet he argues that there’s little he can do about it. When asked why he chose a life of crime in a later season, Tony rejects the notion that he had any choice at all, arguing: “my father was in it.” Tony’s pessimism not only defines the mood of the show but also serves to drive its plot—through fatalism Tony is able to shirk responsibility for his actions and continue to behave abhorrently.
Tony’s worldview also impacts how he sees his family. During the show’s first scene with Dr. Melfi, Tony describes the parallels between his own life and his late father’s. Though Tony’s dad was never as professionally successful as his son, Tony argues that his dad had it easier than him: “He had his people, they had their standards, they had pride. Today what do we got?” This not only establishes what Tony thinks of the modern world but also raises this question: if Tony’s world is worse than his father’s, what will be left for his kids?
“Mere Anarchy Is Loosed” upon Tony’s World
*Major spoilers for The Sopranos ahead*
During The Sopranos’ six seasons, we see Tony rise from capo to boss of a Northern New Jersey crime family then slowly watch that power erode. When the show references “The Second Coming” late into the series (Season 6B, Episode 7) the “center” of Tony’s world can no longer hold. Tensions with a New York crime family, which have already been rising, reach a fever pitch in this episode, and by the end both sides resolve to go to war. At one point, a fellow mobster warns Tony that he’s “at the precipice of an enormous crossroads.” There’s no walking back from his ledge—the only way out is down.
Things are also falling apart in Tony’s nuclear family. In fact, New York only opts to head to war with New York after Tony violently beats up one of their mobsters for harassing his daughter, Meadow (Jamie-Lynn Sigler). During the episode, Ivy-League-educated Meadow also tells her parents that she will no longer head to medical school, shattering their hopes that one of their children could have a respectable career. Instead, Meadow plans on becoming a lawyer and defending white-collar criminals like her dad. Her reasoning for staying peripherally involved in the mob? Her father was in it (though Meadow says it much more eloquently).
Of course, the real tragedy of the episode is not Meadow, but Tony’s son, AJ (Robert Iler)—and anyone who’s seen the episode likely remembers it as the one where AJ attempts suicide. AJ, who we’ve seen drift during the whole series, is finally at a breaking point. Though he lacks his father’s brutality, AJ has what his parents call “the Soprano curse,” also known as depression and anxiety. His family dreads interacting with him, rolling their eyes as he talks about society’s many ills, and AJ finds holding down a job difficult. After his fiancée dumps him, AJ slips into a deeper depression that his parents find both worrying and shameful.
One of the few times we see AJ engage in anything academic is in this episode, when his college class reads Yeats’s “The Second Coming.” The scene begins with his professor reading it out, then cuts to AJ reading at home. A few days later, he attempts suicide in the family’s pool and is rescued when Tony comes home. The attempt itself is clearly significant, highlighting how deeply depressed AJ has become. AJ’s method is also important. The family pool is not only a symbol of affluence and status but also a source of joy for many of the characters. In the first episode, Tony’s happiest when hanging out with a family of ducks that have settled in the pool. It’s also the site of many family barbecues, parties, and other happy events throughout the show. By the series’ end, the pool has gone from being a source of joy to the site of one of the family’s biggest tragedies.
“What Kind of a Poem Is That to Teach College Students?”
After the attempt, AJ attends therapy with his parents. The three discuss everything from Carmela’s parenting to AJ’s experiences at school. We know how Tony feels about his son’s attempted suicide from his conversations with Melfi—he blames both himself and his “putrid genes” for AJ’s depression, but also admits that he’s ashamed of his son. During the session with AJ and his therapy, Tony dismisses his son before growing quiet, noticing a tooth from the mobster he beat up that day on the bottom of his pants. The tooth shows that Tony will never be able to keep his family from his work, especially as both worlds become darker and more dangerous.
The poem “The Second Coming” only comes up once during the therapy session when Carmela asks, “what kind of a poem is that to teach college students?” The question is somewhat ironic: “The Second Coming” is exactly the kind of poem taught in colleges and is a work that has inspired numerous artists since its publication. We can infer that the piece had a significant impact on AJ, but we get no further clues as to what that impact was. Did AJ simply mention how the poem made him feel? Did he quote it—as he does in the series finale—and was he forced to explain the line to his parents? In some ways, Carmela’s question is typical for a woman who spends much of her time justifying her husband’s actions by blaming others. At the same time, this could be her attempt at coddling a boy who’s grown aware of how fucked up his world is. AJ only sees darkness and gloom wherever he looks, obsessing over war and modern ills like chemicals in food and climate change. During his childhood, his parents hid their mafia involvement and tried to shield their kids from Tony’s job and the world at large. By this episode, it’s far too late—the “ceremony of innocence” has been drowned.
The Darkness Drops Again
Only two more episodes come after “The Second Coming.” A lot happens plot-wise as war with New York ensues. At home, AJ continues to drift and Meadow becomes more set on defending criminals like her dad for a living. Fighting with New York forces the family into hiding, and in the last episode, Tony finds out that one of his capos was picked up by the FBI and will testify against him. Tony’s earlier prediction was right—the only end for a boss is either prison or death, and by the series’ end, Tony is facing both. Though neither of these plays out on screen, the message is clear: Tony’s world is ending.
Tony’s family also faces a bleak future. Throughout the show, we’ve seen mafia wives struggle to keep the lights on after the deaths or imprisonments of their husbands, including Carmela’s good friends Ginny Sacrimoni (Denise Borino) and Rosalie Aprile (Sharon Angela), both of whom were married to former bosses. In fact, the Apriles may be the best glimpse at what awaits Carmela and her kids once Tony falls from power: After the death of her husband, Rosalie struggles financially, having no idea where her late husband’s cash ended up. Her son Jackie is unable to complete college, but is clearly not cut out for a life of crime. In season three, when his attempts to ingratiate himself with the mob catastrophically and predictably fail, his father’s mob family kills him. The parallel between Jackie and AJ is clear—both Tony and Carmela see it. When AJ begins having trouble in school, a distraught Tony asks how he can save his son. Though Tony literally saves his son’s life by the end of the series, we know he won’t be around to protect AJ much longer. There’s no saving in the world of The Sopranos, there’s simply surviving. And even that doesn’t always work.
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