Leda and the Swan Notes
Leda and the Swan notes
Origins
Leda and the Swan was a Greek myth in which the God Zeus transformed into a swan and raped the girl Leda.
Different versions of the myth disagree on whether Leda was actually raped or seduced by Zeus.
In the myth, Leda gave birth to four children, who hatched from eggs. One of the children was Helen of Troy, the woman the Trojan War was fought over.
Analysis on form
The poem is a sonnet-it has 14 lines.
Each of the lines has 10 beats to it.
Yeats plays with a loose rhyme scheme. The general pattern is ABAB CDCD EFGEFG. But some of the rhymes are only slant rhymes, like "push" and "rush," or "up" and "drop."
The first nine lines of "Leda and the Swan" describe the act of rape from Leda's perspective. The last five lines of the poem narrate the consequences of the act, both for humanity (the Trojan War) and for Leda personally (the possibility of "putting on" Zeus's knowledge). It has three stanzas, and line 11 is broken off into two lines. Yeats uses three stanzas to distinguish the internal divisions in the poem. Line 11 is broken up in order to heighten the drama of Agamemnon being dead and to show how the poem shifts back to Leda's perspective after leaping forward into the future.
Analysis on Language and Imagery
Lines 3-4: The "dark webs" refers to the swan's webbed feet by only the webbed part, an example of synecdoche. He grabs her neck with his bill and presses himself against her chest.
The poem makes reference to the swan in line 12 by the "brute blood" in his veins. The phrase "brute blood of the air" has another meaning as a metaphor – as if the air were a living thing with its own blood.
Line 13 asks ‘did she put on his knowledge with his power’, suggesting that during the rape, Leda took in some of Zeus’ wisdom.
Line 14 shows the uncaring attitude of the god Zeus as he drops Leda to the ground when he is finished with her.
Analysis of the Setting
Yeats believed that history moved between different and
Origins
Leda and the Swan was a Greek myth in which the God Zeus transformed into a swan and raped the girl Leda.
Different versions of the myth disagree on whether Leda was actually raped or seduced by Zeus.
In the myth, Leda gave birth to four children, who hatched from eggs. One of the children was Helen of Troy, the woman the Trojan War was fought over.
Analysis on form
The poem is a sonnet-it has 14 lines.
Each of the lines has 10 beats to it.
Yeats plays with a loose rhyme scheme. The general pattern is ABAB CDCD EFGEFG. But some of the rhymes are only slant rhymes, like "push" and "rush," or "up" and "drop."
The first nine lines of "Leda and the Swan" describe the act of rape from Leda's perspective. The last five lines of the poem narrate the consequences of the act, both for humanity (the Trojan War) and for Leda personally (the possibility of "putting on" Zeus's knowledge). It has three stanzas, and line 11 is broken off into two lines. Yeats uses three stanzas to distinguish the internal divisions in the poem. Line 11 is broken up in order to heighten the drama of Agamemnon being dead and to show how the poem shifts back to Leda's perspective after leaping forward into the future.
Analysis on Language and Imagery
Lines 3-4: The "dark webs" refers to the swan's webbed feet by only the webbed part, an example of synecdoche. He grabs her neck with his bill and presses himself against her chest.
The poem makes reference to the swan in line 12 by the "brute blood" in his veins. The phrase "brute blood of the air" has another meaning as a metaphor – as if the air were a living thing with its own blood.
Line 13 asks ‘did she put on his knowledge with his power’, suggesting that during the rape, Leda took in some of Zeus’ wisdom.
Line 14 shows the uncaring attitude of the god Zeus as he drops Leda to the ground when he is finished with her.
Analysis of the Setting
Yeats believed that history moved between different and