Leda and the Swan (Excerpt)
A sudden blow: the great wings beating still
Above the staggering girl, her thighs caressed
By the dark webs, her nape caught in his bill,
He holds her helpless breast upon his breast.
How can those terrified vague fingers push
The feathered glory from her loosening thighs?
And how can body, laid in that white rush,
But feel the strange heart beating where it lies?
- W.B. Yeats
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The Question and Answer section for The Poems of W.B. Yeats: Leda and the Swan is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.
The falconer may represent God, or it may represent traditional values, ethical responsibility, and order that was once in control of the falcon. The Second Coming, whatever exactly it may be, has shattered the falconer's (ruler's) contact with...
I think Leda is full of sexual symbolism. Although it may not seem like it to readers unfamiliar with symbolic language, the poem is actually quite explicit in its description of a sexual assault. Because it is not intended to be pornographic or...
The bird described in the narrative is never actually identified as a swan. To fully grasp this poem, it is of tremendous help to be acquainted with some knowledge of ancient Greek mythology. Into that mythology was written the story of the...
