symbol

Symbols are objects, places, events, or characters that hold a deeper meaning than the literal definition. Symbols hold a place in the work as a whole and typically recur throughout. An example of symbol in Hamlet, would be light which represents the truth being revealed: "Give me some light: away! Lights, lights, lights!" (3.2, 230-231). The light represents truth because the King is just witnessing the part of the play that Hamlet wrote in and is suspicious. Moreover, in The Second Coming, Spiritus Mundi represents the soul of the world and how it is hoping for a second coming. The theme of this poem is desperation and Yeats mentions the symbol of the Spiritus Mundi to further emphasize this theme.