Who said “Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, the blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere…”?

Verified

William Butler Yeats. A published source records them saying or writing it.

SourceThe Second Coming (1919)

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“Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, the blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere the ceremony of innocence is drowned.”
— William Butler Yeats
VerifiedThe Second Coming (1919) · evidenceChaos

Cite this quote

For academic work, cite the original where you can: The Second Coming (1919).

APA

Yeats, W. B. (n.d.). Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, the blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere the ceremony of innocence is drowned. [Quotation]. Famous Quotations Network. Retrieved October 24, 2026, from https://www.famous-quotations.com/quotes/9349-mere-anarchy-is-loosed-upon-the-world-the/

MLA

Yeats, William Butler. “Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, the blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere the ceremony of innocence is drowned.” Famous Quotations Network, https://www.famous-quotations.com/quotes/9349-mere-anarchy-is-loosed-upon-the-world-the/. Accessed 24 Oct. 2026.

Chicago

Yeats, William Butler. “Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, the blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere the ceremony of innocence is drowned.” Famous Quotations Network. Accessed October 24, 2026. https://www.famous-quotations.com/quotes/9349-mere-anarchy-is-loosed-upon-the-world-the/.

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More quotes by Yeats

“In dreams begins responsibility.”
VerifiedEpigraph to the book Responsibilities (1914); this was later adapted as the title of the story "In Dreams Begin Responsibilities" (1937) by Delmore Schwartz. · evidenceDetails & citeResponsibility
“A pity beyond all telling is hid in the heart of love.”
VerifiedThe Pity Of Love; in recent years a statement which might have originated as a misquotation of the first lines of this has been attributed to Oscar Wilde: "To give and not expect return, that is what lies at the heart of love." — no occurrence prior to 1999 has yet been located. · evidenceDetails & citeLove
“I think you can leave the arts, superior or inferior, to the conscience of mankind.”
VerifiedSpeech (7 June 1923), Seanad Éireann (Irish Free Senate), on the Censorship of Films Bill. · evidenceDetails & citeCensorship
All 36 William Butler Yeats quotes →