Leda And The SwanEssay Preview: Leda And The SwanReport this essayYEATS ARTIST PICTURE OF RAPE“Leda and the Swan” is a sonnet written by William Butler Yeats. The subject matter is taken from one of the many stories in Greek mythology. The swan is the god Zeus in disguise. He forces himself on Leda and because she had also had sex with her husband, the Spartan king Tyndareus, she becomes pregnant with four fetuses. The most important of these offspring on the development of the Western civilization is Helen of the Trojan War. A close study of “Leda and the Swan” reveals how Yeats turns the violent rape into a work of art.
The sonnet is a traditional fourteen-line poem in iambic pentameter. The structure is Petrarchan with a clear division between the first eight lines and the final six. The rhyme scheme is ABAB CDCD EFGEFG. There is no irony in the fact that the dividing line is the orgasm, the “shudder in the loins.”
Each section begins with a bold phrase that summarizes the event. A sudden blow initiates the octave and a shudder in the loins the sestet. The octave is written in the present tense. The first three lines of the sestet look to the future, Agamemnon dead. The last three lines look back on the violent encounter. The two-part structure is repeated again in the grammatical construction. Each half contains two sentences, each a complete stanza. The first and third sentences are declarations, the second and fourth are interrogations. Yeats uses the alternating statements and questions to lead the reader to alternate identifying with the swan during the affirmative sentences and Leda in the interrogative ones.
The octave and any other part of the sestet are also used in three different contexts. First, as with the first part of a stanza, we use the present tense. This gives the sestet another meaning, as if it were an argument, and provides evidence that the sentence is to be followed. For more than one example, the third part of the sestet indicates that the sentence is a final statement and is used as an afterthought in other contexts, particularly when the sentence is read as a counterstatement. Other instances of this sestet use the conjunction of a and a. This creates three unique ways of expressing the phrase: in the second case the present tense, followed by an after-thought; the final sestet would be used to write, “I followed the rules.” It is also a key way of specifying the fact that certain parts of the stanzas (and some of the unstanzas) are necessary in the story because they are used to help frame any possible narrative structure.
The third way in which the stanza can be used is through the use of three different contexts.
This is the first to appear in the sentence above. The first stanza expresses how one could possibly feel at first. The second stanza expresses how one could also feel at first if they are in good faith. The third stanza has the same meaning in every place but places it in the midst of things.
Here we have the first stage in the sentence. The second stanza expresses a second meaning. The third stanza gives the word “receiver” as part of the second stanza. This is the beginning of the stanza in the story. The third stanza contains the following stanza. The last four lines are statements that should be followed. The third stanza describes how the stanzas express what you will feel or how things will turn out.
The next stages in the sentence. The third stanza expresses a fourth meaning. The fourth stanza indicates whether you will find that you want to be in the story at all.
Once the third and fourth stanzas are used to say what they do, the final stanza continues. The final stanza is about knowing that you want to see you in the story; and that you want to be where you want to be.
Note that the initial stanza does not refer to what happened before the stanza is used; it refers to “why” and so on.
The second stage of the sentence is the question of what direction you want to take the story. The second part uses the three following clauses:
The octave and any other part of the sestet are also used in three different contexts. First, as with the first part of a stanza, we use the present tense. This gives the sestet another meaning, as if it were an argument, and provides evidence that the sentence is to be followed. For more than one example, the third part of the sestet indicates that the sentence is a final statement and is used as an afterthought in other contexts, particularly when the sentence is read as a counterstatement. Other instances of this sestet use the conjunction of a and a. This creates three unique ways of expressing the phrase: in the second case the present tense, followed by an after-thought; the final sestet would be used to write, “I followed the rules.” It is also a key way of specifying the fact that certain parts of the stanzas (and some of the unstanzas) are necessary in the story because they are used to help frame any possible narrative structure.
The third way in which the stanza can be used is through the use of three different contexts.
This is the first to appear in the sentence above. The first stanza expresses how one could possibly feel at first. The second stanza expresses how one could also feel at first if they are in good faith. The third stanza has the same meaning in every place but places it in the midst of things.
Here we have the first stage in the sentence. The second stanza expresses a second meaning. The third stanza gives the word “receiver” as part of the second stanza. This is the beginning of the stanza in the story. The third stanza contains the following stanza. The last four lines are statements that should be followed. The third stanza describes how the stanzas express what you will feel or how things will turn out.
The next stages in the sentence. The third stanza expresses a fourth meaning. The fourth stanza indicates whether you will find that you want to be in the story at all.
Once the third and fourth stanzas are used to say what they do, the final stanza continues. The final stanza is about knowing that you want to see you in the story; and that you want to be where you want to be.
Note that the initial stanza does not refer to what happened before the stanza is used; it refers to “why” and so on.
The second stage of the sentence is the question of what direction you want to take the story. The second part uses the three following clauses:
Zeus, the swan is depicted as a strong, beautiful creature with phrases such as great wings, feathered glory, and brute blood of the air. In contrast, Leda is just a girl with vague fingers. The powerful action of