Linguistic | Semantic | Structural | Cultural | |
Specific examples of what you observed when reading | “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.” (Yeats 1-4) | “A shudder in the loins engenders there// The broken wall, the burning roof and tower// and Agamemnon dead.” (Yeats 9-11) | 9 A shudder in the loins engenders there | “The broken wall, the burning roof and tower// And Agamemnon dead.” (Yeats 10-11) “13 So mastered by the brute blood of the air, |
Demonstrate the development of the complexity of thought at each level by writing a descriptive response to the above row | There are few lines in this poem that are meant to be taken strictly literally-- the first stanza is one of them. Yeats describes the approach of the swan and it’s attack of Leda with great detail and imagery. Yeats begins the poem by juxtaposing the power/physical dominance of the swan (“sudden blow”, “great wings”) with the helplessness of Leda (“staggering girl”) and this very literally begins telling of the rape. Depiction of the rape is explicit and had been controversial when “Leda and the Swan” was first published but is necessary in order for Yeats to highlight the extent of Zeus’ crime. | The last two stanzas are very figurative and rely on inference as well as prior knowledge of the greek myth of Leda and the Swan to which the title of the poem references. “A shudder in the loins engenders there” (Yeats 9) refers of an orgasm and the conception of Helen of Troy (Leda’s daughter in the myth). The next two lines tell of the consequences of the rape and of Helen-- the Trojan War in which the burning of Troy occurred (“burning roof and tower”) as well as the death of Agamemnon. Lines 5-6 in the second stanza continue juxtaposing the swan and Leda; the word “glory” is used because Zeus/swan is a god and above the mere mortal Leda. | The final two stanzas are three lines each with an extra line in between (line 12). This line is set apart from the rest of the poem by an indent in order to set it aside from the rest of the poem and to transition into a new topic. Since sonnets only have 14 lines, line 12 is technically included as being part of line 11, just set aside as a transition. The lines preceding line 12 are concerned with the conception and eventual birth of Helen of Troy and the future consequences that follow whereas the lines following the transition bring the reader back to the present and question how aware Leda was of the true circumstances while characterizing the swan/Zeus by his indifference towards his actions. | “The broken wall, the burning roof and tower” (Yeats 10) is a direct reference to the burning of Troy during the Trojan War where the Greek king who had helped Menelaus, Agamemnon, is also murdered. Yeats assumes his audiences knows of this myth and bases his poem on it. The next two lines then question if Leda had knowledge of who the swan was and/or the full implications of the rape. Yeats is very vague with the phrase “put on” and allows its ambiguity to mean that Leda took in some of Zeus’s power, Leda put the swan’s power with its knowledge (Zeus is supposedly all-knowing of present+future events) and was thus aware of the consequences (Trojan War), or that she simply did not realize either. The last line characterizes Zeus in typical-Greek-myth fashion: “indifferent” to the actions of the mortal world; “let her drop” means Leda was dropped back onto Earth and ends the encounter. |
Poem and Author | Analysis of Close Reading |
Leda and the Swan by W. B. Yeats 1 A sudden blow: the great wings beating still | Yeats’ poem is basically the Greek myth in poetic form… Synopsis: Zeus takes on the form of a swan and rapes Leda, a mortal girl. Helen is born→ Trojan War and murder of Agamemnon who tried to help King Menelaus defeat Paris and win back Helen→ death and destruction. Leda= Hassan= Afghanistan Zeus= Assef= External forces (Soviet + Taliban) Literary Devices: Juxtaposition- establishes differences between the swan/Zeus (“sudden blow”, “great wings”, “dark webs”, feathered glory”) and Leda (“staggering girl”, “helpless breast”, “terrified vague fingers”). Shows an external (literally, out-of-this-world/Earth) force abusing its sense of superiority and the power it believes comes with it. Zeus does not take responsibility for his actions or the destruction it brings upon Greece. Rhetorical questions- “How can those terrified vague fingers push// The feathered glory from her loosening thighs?” (5-6) show how hopeless the scenario is for Leda-- she simply cannot prevent it. *similar to Hassan who did not fight against Assef but was instead “resigned” Allusion- Allusions to the Trojan War, burning of Troy, murder of Agamemnon to show the extent of the rape |