Leda and the Swan Commentary.

Barron

Marc Barron

November 2, 2003

Period 7

Leda and the Swan Commentary

The poem “Leda and the Swan” is based on the mythological story about the rape of Leda, a mortal woman who marries a mortal man, Tyndareus, but was sought out by Zeus, the god of the gods. As a result of this rape, Leda lays two eggs, one which hatches into the war-gods Castor and Polydeuces, and the other which hatches into Clytemnestra and Helen, who is to become the most beautiful woman alive. Yeats poem tells the actual situation of Zeus having sex with Leda in the form of a swan. Yeats use of structure and imagery show that the whole poem is a poem of contrasts.

The poem is written in a traditional form, a sonnet, using a traditional rhyme scheme. However, the irony in the structure of this poem is extremely non-traditional. The reader sees violent images of rape rather than a traditional love sonnet. The structure of the poem also matches the structure of the mythological incident. The first quatrain depicts the assault of Leda (1-8), whereas “A sudden blow” initiates the octave; the second quatrain reflects Leda’s emotions, whereas “A shudder in the lions” initiates the sestet (9-15). Between the first half of the sestet, “A shudder in the lions,”(9) which represents the moment of ejaculation, and the second half of it, which shows a receding into memory and the question for meaning, a cut line, “Being so caught up,” (12) is inserted to illustrate a dramatic pause in the action. The transition is a movement from aggressive intensity to a vague passive distance; the poem starts out with “a sudden blow” (1) and ends in a mental way with the speaker asking a question. This shows a general change from the abstract to the concrete. Finally, the use of verbs plays a major role in the understanding of “Leda and the Swan.” Yeats uses present verbs in the octave and first part of the sestet, using verbs such as, “holds,” (4) “push,” (5) “feel,” (8) and “engenders” (9). Yeats then shifts the verbs into the passive tense in the final part of the sestet, using verbs such as “caught,” (12) “mastered,” (13) and “did” (14). The effect on the reader is that the verbs in the present tense imply an intense immediacy while the verbs in the passive tense distance the reader from the rape and makes you reflect on the event.

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The imagery, and the diction in general, is also representative, at first glance, of oppositional elements within the text. As stated before, a first reading shows Leda described in concrete terms and the swan described in abstract terms. Leda is the “staggering girl” (2) and the poem refers to “Her thighs,” (2) “her nape,” (3) “her helpless breast,” (4) and “her loosening thighs” (6). The swan is never actually called Zeus or even the Swan. The “Swan” is described as “great wings,” (1) “dark webs,” (3) “the feathered glory,” (6) “that white rush,” (7) “blood,” (13) and “indifferent beak” (15). A closer examination of the poem, however, shows that ambiguities do exist. The concrete and abstract images merge, thus creating ambiguities in the poem. Abstract terms are used for Leda, “terrified vague fingers,” (5) and concrete terms are used for the swan, “wings,” (1) “bill,” (3) and “beak” (15). The ambiguities imply a confrontation both real and imagined, both physical and intellectual. For example, Yeats use of the word “staggering” (3) can mean separate things. The reader can assume that Leda is “staggering,” meaning that she is literally physically staggering, or the reader can assume that she “staggers,” meaning she staggers the mind of the swan. Another ambiguity can be seen in the word “still” (1). The reader can assume the swan as having just dropped down on Leda, yet the word “still” also implies a timeless continuation. Nevertheless, the purpose of these ambiguities and the reason why Yeats might have included this could be to show that the god is engaged in a physical act in the form of a swan. The ambiguity, therefore, represents the main conflict and the theme: Man has too much power and not enough wisdom. Through these ambiguities, Yeats glorifies the power and sensuality of the rapist, “the feathered glory,” (6) but also questions the motives of this power by stating “his knowledge with his power” (14).

Yeats makes use of other writer’s craft throughout the poem. Through the use of diction, Yeats creates a powerful aura of the swan, using words such as “sudden blow,” (1) “beating,” (1) “staggering,” (2) “beating,” (8) “shuddered,” (9) “burning,” (10) and “mastered” (13). In addition, Yeats creates an aura of helplessness and weakness on Leda’s end through his use of adjectives and descriptive words such as “caressed,” (2) “helpless,” (4) “terrified,” (5) “vague,” (5) and loosening” (6). The diction in “Leda and the Swan” increases the sensory impact of the poem. Yeats tone is aggressive in the first half of the octave, inquisitive by which he seems to glorify the rape in the second half of the octave, and passive in the sestet, where he questions the motives of Leda on “his knowledge with his power,” (14) possibly alluding to the rape as a symbol for disaster in the future. (The birth of Helen leading to the fall of Troy). The tone draws the reader into the action and into the poem in the first quatrain, and then causes you to reflect on the horrific images of the rape in the last quatrain. Finally, a very important event is foreshadowed in “Leda and the Swan.” The first half of the sestet projects the reader into the far future: “The broken wall… and Agamemnon dead” (9-11). This event foreshadows the Trojan War, which broke out as a result of Helen’s abduction to Troy.

This is a poem with many ambiguities and sexual connotations. Closer examination to structure shows the rape, followed by conception, followed by the fall of Troy.

Word Count: 989