Wb yeats leda and the swan. William Butler Yeats Leda And The Swan Essay 2022-10-02
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"Leda and the Swan" is a poem written by William Butler Yeats in 1923. It is based on the Greek myth of Leda, who was raped by Zeus, who had taken the form of a swan. The poem is a dramatic monologue, with the swan speaking in the first person.
The poem begins with the swan describing the moment of his attack on Leda. He describes how he "strode" through the air, "vehement, tall," and then "bent" down to Leda. The swan is described as having "the deceitful beak," a metaphor for his true identity as Zeus. The swan then describes how he "took" Leda, using violent and sexual language to convey the rape.
The poem then shifts to describe the aftermath of the rape, as Leda "clung" to the swan, her "white body" pressed against his "white breast." The swan describes how Leda's "terrified vague fingers" tried to "clutch" him, but he was able to "hold her helpless." The swan's language is both violent and sexual, as he describes Leda as "helpless" and "yielding" to his will.
Throughout the poem, Yeats uses imagery and language to convey the violence and power dynamics at play in the myth of Leda and the swan. The swan is described as "vehement" and "tall," while Leda is described as "helpless" and "yielding." This contrast between the power and aggression of the swan and the vulnerability and passivity of Leda is a central theme of the poem.
Yeats also uses the myth of Leda and the swan to explore themes of identity and transformation. The swan, who is really Zeus in disguise, represents the idea of transformation and disguise. Leda, on the other hand, represents the idea of victimhood and the consequences of male violence.
Overall, "Leda and the Swan" is a powerful and provocative poem that uses the myth of Leda and the swan to explore themes of violence, power, identity, and transformation. Yeats's language and imagery are ev
The Poems of W.B. Yeats: Leda and the Swan Literary Elements
Yeats and his impact on his native country. The poem Leda and the Swan itself can be perceived as an extended metaphor with Leda symbolizing Europe and the Swan representing Zeus. Why did Zeus seduce Leda? However, this deconstructive reading of Yeats's "Leda and the Swan" showcases how the myth of women and the patriarchal logic may subvert themselves. Women, Power Knowledge in W. As she argues, while men's sacrifice in wars and their bravery are well chronicled in Irsh history, women in Ireland are often attached to the idealization of virtuous housewives 22. Written by ViaRomano In this poem, W.
Women, Power Knowledge in W.B. Yeat's "Leda and the Swan".
Yeats captures its intensity and underlying menace sans obvious labels — and how about the turn-of-phrase? Selected Writings: Ruben Dario. Yeats makes references to several different myths throughout the poem, which help to add depth and meaning. A shudder in the loins engenders there The broken wall, the burning roof and tower And Agamemnon dead. It tells the story of Leda, a young woman who was raped by Zeus in the form of a swan. Yeats has offered much to the English literary canon. In 1508 he painted a different composition of the subject, with a nude standing Leda cuddling the Swan, with the two sets of infant twins also nude , and their huge broken egg-shells.
And how can body, laid in that white rush, But feel the strange heart beating where it lies? To make possible the realization of truth, someone or something has to be silenced or oppressed under the sway of overpowering discourse. Being so caught up, So mastered by the brute blood of the air, Did she put on his knowledge with his power Before the indifferent beak could let her drop? It unravels an unintentional male mis-representation of the female as powerful when, after all, her power can only be a mythical one, the sort of fantastic as opposed to real, political power that men project onto woman. London: Race and Housing Research Unit. White The swan composed of snow floats in shadow, amber beak translucent in the last light. They both felt a shudder in their loins. So fragile is Leda's grip of knowledge that nothing, not even the fleeting sexual power from "the brute blood of the air" 215 can make her envision "the broken wall" 214 and "the burning room and tower" 214.
The Poems of W.B. Yeats: Leda and the Swan Background
The Poems of W. Yeats had his heart set on conveying that a new era is going to start; the era of violence and destruction. The most well-known poems on the topic are W. Hence, the sestet is devoted to some moral and philosophical issues humankind needs to contemplate, thus making the poem universal. She also gave birth to Clytemnestra and the result was the Analysis, Stanza by Stanza The fourteen lines of this Stanza One 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.
But then we suddenly see the blind spot in the patriarchal stance and give the lower term priority: Leda puts on Zeus's knowledge with his power. Hawk Chang is Assistant Professor of the Department of Literature and Cultural Studies at The Education University of Hong Kong. In Greek mythology, Leda was a Spartan queen who was raped by Zeus in the guise of a swan. The Collected Poems of W. In addition, devastation is rampant because finally Troy ends up with ruins. However, the feminization of the land does not mean a real respect for women. Reluctant yet irresistible, Leda succumbs to this gorgeous thundering power step by step with her "loosening thighs" 214 , a paradox prevalent in the chauvinistic justification of sexual violence.
A shudder in the loins engenders there The broken wall, the burning roof and tower And Agamemnon dead. The second quatrain Stanza Three Lines 1-5 A shudder in the loins engenders there The broken wall, the burning roof and tower And Agamemnon dead. By using a number of bold, visual images and asking a number of rhetorical questions, the poet wishes to convey that human beings do bow down in front of the affairs of nature or fate just like the hapless girl, Leda surrendered and allowed Zeus to rape her. Leda, the victim of rape, is objectified and dehumanized throughout the poem. As a consequence, Yeats wittingly or unwittingly mis-represents the woman, by seeming at first to portray her as a traditionally passive and feminine victim of rape now suddenly made powerful, made masculine and heroic. And how can body, laid in that white rush, But feel the strange heart beating where it lies? Being so caught up, So mastered by the brute blood of the air, Did she put on his knowledge with his power Before the indifferent beak could let her drop? The question mark at the end indicates that the poet speaker casts doubt on whether she is capable ofintegrating his knowledge with his power. In other words, whereas men lead in political campaigns, women are expected to take good care of domestic affairs.
Subjects that fascinated Yeast and would eventually inspire his poetry and drama included: reincarnation; nineteenth century occultism; Irish mythology; Greek mythology; European politics;and supernatural system. This could be a reference to Irish struggle for independence and how Yeats perceived history using the theory of gyres. Yeats narrates the story of Yeats suggests that through mating with a god, Leda is able to have a vision of the future and sees the horrible fate that will befall Update this section! These symbols help to create a richer meaning in the poem, and make it more enjoyable to read. Yeats: Leda and the Swan Summary". The Morning After: Sexual Politics at the End of the Cold War. When reading Yeats's "Leda and the Swan" from this angle, it is understandable that Leda becomes not so much a mythological medium through which power and knowledge might coalesce into one as a feeble, raped colonial woman. GradeSaver, 9 August 2018 Web.
The Poems of W.B. Yeats: Leda and the Swan Summary
Leda and the Swan is one of his most famous poems, published in 1924. Leda was famously seduced by Zeus when the king of the Olympian gods took the form of a swan. Nonetheless, a cultured woman should not run wild in the wilderness, and nor should she argue with others. The poem also perpetuates the myth that rape can be an act of love. The introduction of Pan is OK, yet the use of Agamemnon is richer in the context of Greek mythology, and even more mysterious. Being so caught up So mastered by the brute blood of the air, The third quatrain brings the sex act between Leda and the Swan to its ultimate satisfying conclusion. How can those terrified vague fingers push The feathered glory from her loosening thighs? From this perspective, the concluding lines can be interpreted in the following: Were the Irish people forcibly imbued with British rationality while being raped by the overwhelming British military power before the exhausted British army relinquished its dominion over Ireland? As a result of their intercourse, Leda gave birth to Helen and Polydeuces, who were fathered by Zeus, and Castor and Clytemnestra, who were fathered by her mortal husband Tyndareus.
In his well-known poem "Easter 1916," Yeats recounts his acquaintances, praisingthose humdrum lives which are transformed by the fight for freedom from a "casual comedy" 181 to a "terrible beauty" 181. Yeats: Leda and the Swan Background". In Greek mythology, Leda was a queen of Sparta who was approached and tempted by Zeus in the form of a swan. William Butler Yeats, the writer of Leda and Swan, was born in Dublin into an Irish protestant family. Through a deconstructive reading, this paper argues that although "Leda and the Swan" is so overloaded with sexually hierarchal oppositions that it is often considered another potent testimony to the disempowerment of women which is typical of Yeats's poetry, a significant subversive potential for women to fight up against patriarchy in the poem can be discerned.
The couplet, the last two lines of the sonnet conclude the poem with a rhetorical question. Now, some arguments abound: one could say that the first two stanzas, in their beatific descriptions, do not fully anticipate the attack in the third, rendering its entry even more jarring. In the due course, the girl gave birth to Helen, who, in turn, became the cause of the Trojan War, the burning of the roof and tower of Troy, and also of the destruction of the big wall around Troy. The poem is permeated with allusions of mystical ideas about the universe and the Greek mythology, linking Helen of Troy and Leda. Leonardo da Vinci began making studies in 1504 for a painting, apparently never executed, of Leda seated on the ground with her children.
