Leda and the Swan

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1924

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Summary

Background

Poem Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Form and Meter

“Leda and the Swan” loosely follows the Italian (or “Petrarchan”) sonnet form in terms of its rhyme scheme: Its first two stanzas are divided into four lines each and follow an ABAB CDCD rhyme scheme, while the final stanza is made up of six lines (known as a “sestet” in Italian sonnets) with an EFGEFG rhyme scheme. There is a deliberately disruptive—and thematically significant—line break in Line 11 (“And Agamemnon dead / Being so caught up”) that fractures what should be a single line across two lines, shifting the poem from a sonnet’s traditional length of 14 lines into one that is 15 lines. This sudden line break is significant because it shifts the poem’s focus away from the future events of the Trojan War and its aftermath (“And Agamemnon dead” [Line 11]) back to the scene of Leda’s rape (“Being so caught up” [Line 12]), once more linking the violence that is to come with the violence that is presently taking place.

Furthermore, Yeats’s choice of the sonnet form is significant because sonnets are traditionally associated with love poetry. In using the sonnet form to depict an act of sexual violence, Yeats lends irony to the traditional form, while his unexpected line break across Lines 11-12 mirrors the disruptive act the poem depicts.

Rhetorical Questions

“Leda and the Swan” contains three rhetorical questions—a rather high number for so short a poem. These rhetorical questions occur in Lines 5-6 (“How can those terrified vague fingers push / The feathered glory from her loosening thighs?”), Lines 7-8, (“And how can body, laid in that white rush / But feel the strange heart beating where it lies?”), and in the poem’s closing lines, Lines 14-15 (“Did she put on his knowledge with his power / Before the indifferent beak could let her drop?”). A rhetorical question is a question that is posed without anticipation of an answer, usually because the question is phrased in such a way that it is clear a response is either impossible or unnecessary. In this poem, the rhetorical questions create a sense of dialogue between speaker and reader to heighten the pathos of what is taking place, while the final rhetorical question leaves the poem open-ended, thereby inviting reader speculation.

In Medias Res

In medias res is a Latin phrase meaning “in the middle of things.” The phrase applies to works of literature that start immediately with a key point of action instead of gradually building up to the moment of crisis. In “Leda and the Swan,” the poem opens with the moment Zeus (as the swan) attacks Leda: “A sudden blow: the great wings beating still / Above the staggering girl” (Lines 1-2). The poem’s abrupt opening places the reader immediately in the center of the action, creating a sense of immediacy and momentum that heightens the drama and intensity of the poem.

In medias res is also a common narrative tactic used in ancient Greek and Roman epics, including Homer’s Iliad, the most famous epic about the Trojan War. In drawing upon a technique closely associated with Classical mythology, Yeats deepens the authenticity of his own literary adaptation, bringing attention to how his sonnet mirrors and plays with the conventions of Classical myth in its form as well as its content.