The poem has many different themes, but the one of sex is the most apparent one. This poem was carefully crafted over a five year period. Also, zeuss name is not seen in both the title and the text. The title of the poem is important, because it is the only indication of the characters who are the. In form, leda is a rhyming sonnet that seems to have been physically traumatized. Zooming in closer, the writing is supercharged from the start. Zeus, disguised as a swan, rapes leda then abandons her. The first edition of the novel was published in september 9th 1996, and was written by w. According to later greek mythology, leda bore helen and polydeuces, children of zeus, while at the same time bearing castor and clytemnestra, children of her husband tyndareus, the king of sparta. The twist of the story is that zeus is disguised as a swan. Published in yeats collection of later poems in 1926, leda and the swan is a sonnet based on a myth from greek mythology. In yeats poem the myth leda and the swan is described in the first two quatrains where mythology, is everything. In addition to influencing artists, however, this coupling also influenced mythology. The poems title is very important to understand the characters in the poem.
Leda and the swan analysis essay 477 words bartleby. Leda and the swan is a poem deserving close reading and attention. When yeats wrote this poem in 1928, most of his readers would have been familiar with the story of leda and the swan. Zeus, changing himself into a huge swan, raped the princess leda, and out of that union was born helen, whose elopement with paris subsequently led to the trojan war. Yeats presents this tale in a relatively graphic way, so. Prometheus, the titan who creates man from clay and steals fire from the gods, and leda and the swan, the mysterious conjunction of. Published in 1920, leda is his fourth compilation of poetry. Download fulltext pdf leda and the swans revisions. Before being the metamorphosis of mary and her dove, leda da vincis figura serpentina and the swan the brute blood of the air are the metamorphosis of eve and the serpent the cold blood of. A summary of a classic yeats poem by dr oliver tearle leda and the swan published in 1924 is one of w.
William butler yeats is widely considered to be one of the greatest poets of the 20th century. Zeus, the father of the olympian gods, took the form of a swan in order to seduce leda, daughter of king thestius. 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. Leda and the swan is a difficult poem to grasp fully on a casual reading because it assumes considerable background knowledge on the part of the reader of the event being described and its. Introduction generally considered as the last romantic and perhaps one of the first modernist poets, william butler yeats is the most influential poet in twentieth. The poem is based on an episode of ancient greek mythology. Yeats leda and the swan and van duyns leda in greek mythology, leda, a spartan queen, was so beautiful that zeus, ruler of the gods, decided he must have her. Leda and the swan poem summary and analysis litcharts. I have opted this version in my poem the swan and me. Although the swan is not a delicate creature like a butterfly, and is not cuddly and cute like a kitten, it is a living thing that can feel pain and hunger just like any other living creature. Reading leda and the swan, the sonnet by william butler yeats, is an experienceits a vivid and violent retelling of a greek myth where zeus, in the form of a swan, rapes leda.
The images in the two poems leda and the swan and leda interpret the romance between a swan and a girl named leda described in a greek myth. Form leda and the swan is a sonnet, a traditional fourteenline poem in iambic pentameter. Leda and the swanan analysis of the theme in myth and art. This poem was written by william butler yeats, an irish poet, in 1924. Yeatss poem plucks this instrument of perpetual tension and creates evocative poetry that takes the reader on a voyage along the greek myth of leda and the swan while asking vast. Leda and the swan, sonnet by william butler yeats, composed in 1923, printed in the dial june 1924, and published in the collection the cat and the moon and certain poems 1924. Part 2 but the painting by leonardo da vinci depicts a different story of extreme passionate love between leda zeus. Zeus who is known to be a very wise god, one day infatuated by her beauty after seeing naked body while she was bathing in the river furatos and raped her. In the myth, leda gave birth to four children, who hatched from eggs. Leda and the swan poem by william butler yeats poem hunter. Leda and the swan poem analysis 1260 words 6 pages. One of the children was helen of troy, the woman the trojan war was fought over. The myth is seen primarily as one of sexuality and three aspects are isolated.
This poem is based on the greek myth of zeus and leda. The poem is based on the greek mythological story of beautiful leda, who gave birth to helen and clytemnestra after she was raped by zeus in the form of a swan the poem details the rape of leda with graphic imagery. Yeats does not use the names of the characters throughout the poem. Leda and the swan by william butler yeats helen of troy. Yeats leda and the swan, first published in the dial in 1924, is an example of irish poetry drawing on classical greek and latin texts to create a commentary on the political atmosphere. The speaker wonders whether leda, caught up by the swan and mastered by the brute blood of the air, assumed his knowledge as well as his power before the indifferent beak could let her drop. In this second lecture of leda and the swan no longer the sexes are opposed.
The king of greek gods and goddesses living on mount olympus, zeus or jupiter appeared to leda in the form of a swan, and made love to her. The ideas expressed in long legged fly can be linked to leda and the swan 1924 where the mythical raping of a young girl, leda, by zeus in swan form has huge repercussions on the future. Leda and the swan is a sexually violent poem with clear diction. Leda and the swan download ebook pdf, epub, tuebl, mobi. We are fortunate to have three versions of it and can see the tightening of the verse over this time. The forced conception of leda by the swan is a turning point and will have. Why is leda and the swan considered part of modern poetry. Yeats describes the violent act of rape but makes it sound almost beautiful and very sexual. The rhyme scheme and rhythm of the poem are both very important. The title of the poem is significant, since it is the only indication of leda and the swan, the characters of the poem in which yeats thinks that the readers know about the myth of leda and the swan. Legend is that helen was born from an egg because her father zeus appeared as a swan when he impregnated leda some versions of the tale instead claim that it was the goddess. Different versions of the myth disagree on whether leda was actually raped or seduced by zeus.
Yeats, out, out by robert frost, and siren song by margaret atwood reveals the historical. In this myth, the god zeus turns himself into a swan in order to rape the beautiful woman leda. The poets aspiration to achieve subtle balance in the relationship through syntactic and semantic. Yet hovers, though her helpless thighs are pressed. Download this entire guide to leda and the swan as a printable pdf. The poem, which somewhat unusually for yeats is a sonnet, is about the rape of the greek girl leda by the god. There may be a number of reasons for which william butler yeats poem leda and the swan could be considered part of modern poetry one clear reason could be that leda and the swan. The swan is the stranger, and the terrified vague fingers line 5 that touch ledas body, transmit to the reader the sense of violence.
In leda and the swan, yeats knowingly sets aside modern standards of ethics in order to fully inhabit the world of the greek gods and fate. The poem is a petrarchan sonnet, a form usually associated with love and romance, yet here used controversially by yeats. The book was published in multiple languages including english, consists of 544 pages and is available in paperback format. Leda and the swan by william butler yeats poem analysis. The beginning of the poem takes us by surprise, as leda is surprised by. This conception results in the birth of helen of troy. He belonged to the protestant, angloirish minority that had controlled the economic, political, social, and cultural life of ireland since at least the end of the 17th century. Leda will give birth to helen of troy and so take part in a causal chain that later includes the fall of troy and the murder of agamemnon. In the form of sonnet, this poem pictures zeuss rape of leda and, in conclusion poses a question. The reader is able to feel the force, the drama, the power behind the sexual act. It begins with the passionate and slightly erotic poem leda, which recalls the love affair between queen leda, the mother of helen of troy, and her swan, zeus in disguise.
Yeatss poem, leda and the swan, begins in a very dramatic way with the reader being thrown directly into the action. According to greek myth, leda was the mother of mankind. Leda and the swan by william butler yeats poetry foundation. Leda and the swan is a story and subject in art from greek mythology in which the god zeus, in the form of a swan, seduces or in some versions, rapes leda. The swan zeus ejaculates into ledas womb, and conceives the child, helen. Synopsisthis paper is one of a series investigating basic mythological themes and making special use of the artistic representation of such themes over the centuries.
My interpretation of yeatss leda and the swan yeatss. The theme of leda and the swan, as of the second coming, is the tragedy of history. The supernatural zeus was the chief figure in the pantheon of greek gods who lived on mount olympus and created enough drama to. Though he gained recognition for his later essays and novels, aldous huxley started his writing career as a poet. The sexual politics of yeatss leda and the swan the. Since immortals usually did not present themselves to humankind in their divine forms, zeus changed himself into a great swan and in that shape ravished the helpless girl carey 5859. He pays occasional tribute to ugly fact in the course of this poem, but he is at home while describing leda with her maids bathing in eurotas, her shining body, and the pdf clear deep pools. The rape of the mortal, leda, by zeus in the form of a swan is examined in terms of comparative mythology and of poetic and pictorial portrayals. Although leda and the swan serves as a critique of the colonial endeavour, a deeper analysis offers a reading that renders visible the multiple ways in which the poem undermines colonial resistance by reinforcing a colonial discourse. The poem leda and the swan by william butler yeats shows how leda was being raped by zeus in the form of a wild swan and how this copulation led to the destruction of the city of the troy. Leda and the swan by william butler yeats free download as pdf.
In leda, aldous huxley is back in the old smooth, mythological world, consecrated by a thousand poets. The main characters of this poetry, classics story are tiriel, yeats. Once again, a yeats poem opens with a predatory bird, which now turns its violence against the human. Leda and the swan is a poem written by william butler yeats. This site is like a library, use search box in the widget to get ebook that you want. Free download or read online the collected poems of w. There is no love in this poem which is precisely why the form is so relevant. The story of leda and the swan comes from ancient greek mythology. Click download or read online button to get leda and the swan book now. In leda and the swan, by william butler yeats, a perverted sort of swan ends up performing sexual. Likewise, allusion in the poems leda and the swan by w. Pdf in his poem leda and the swan, william butler yeats retells the classic greek myth in which leda, a human woman, is impregnated by the god zeus while he is in the form of a swan. Leda and the swan, by william butler yeats in a nutshell william butler yeatss leda and the swan retells the story from greek mythology of the rape of a girl named leda by zeus, the most powerful of the greek gods. Leda and the swan an early version 18 september 1923 now can the swooping godhead have his will.