Notes on “Leda and the Swan”
Words describing Zeus:
“great wings”- This describes how large Zeus (the swan) is.
“dark webs”- This uses the word “dark” in order to convey evil.
“glory”- This describes the victorious feeling that Zeus feels taking advantage of a weak being.
“shuddering loins”- This describes the sexual act taking place, right before Zeus ejaculates.
“the broken wall, the burning roof and tower, and Agamemmom dead”- These two lines are probably the most informative of the poem. From the rape, Leda laid eggs and had her children (Helen, Clytemnestra, Castor, and Polydeuces). Essentially, this brought about the Trojan War. Agamemmom is referring to Clytemnestra’s husband, a Greek leader, whom she had murdered after the Greeks attacked the city of Troy. This was initiated when Trojans captured Helen, Clytemnestra’s sister.
“power”- This is just as it sounds; Zeus is using his power over Leda to rape her.
“indifferent beak”-This is describing how Zeus feels towards Leda: indifferent. He feels no remorse for raping her.
Words describing Leda:
“staggering girl”- This describes that was unstable and probably caught off guard when a large swan began to rape her.
“helpless breast”- This describes how helpless she was.
“terrified vague fingers”- This describes how scared she was; “vague” describes how little power she had against Zeus and how she could not stop him.
“strange heart beating”- This describes the shock that Leda was in and how caught up she was in the moment.
“mastered”- This describes how she was overpowered by Zeus.
Structure:
This poem by Yeats is a traditional fourteen line poem in iambic pentameter, also known as a sonnet. Furthermore, it is a Petrarchan sonnet, which includes an octave (the first eight lines of the poem) and concludes with a sestet. The rhyme scheme in this poem is ABAB CDCD EFGEFG.
Significance:
Yeats provided a great deal of imagery in this short poem. By using powerful adjectives and verbs, Yeats conveyed the importance of this event. It is most significant because it essentially ended the mythological era and began the era of modern history.
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| Leda and the Swan. Photo by Answers.com. |
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References:
Answers.com. “Leda and the Swan”. 2008. www.answers.com/topic/leda-and-the-swan
Encyclopedia Mythica. “Zeus”. 20 July 2005. MMVI Encyclopedia Mythica. www.pantheon.org