Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, LEDA AND THE SWAN, by WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

LEDA AND THE SWAN, by         Recitation     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: A sudden blow [or, the great bird drops]; the great wings beating still
Alternate Author Name(s): Yeats, W. B.
Variant Title(s): Leda
Subject(s): Birds; Imagination; Leda; Mythology - Classical; Seduction; Swans; Trojan War; Villains In Literature; Vision; Zeus; Fancy


A sudden blow: the great wings beating still
A sudden blow: the great wings beating still
Above the staggering girl, her thighs caressed
Above the staggering girl, her thighs caressed
By the dark webs, her nape caught in his bill,
By the dark webs, her nape caught in his bill,
He holds her helpless breast upon his breast.
He holds her helpless breast upon his breast.
How can those terrified vague fingers push

The feathered glory from her loosening thighs?
How can those terrified vague fingers push
And how can body, laid in that white rush,
The feathered glory from her loosening thighs?
But feel the strange heart beating where it lies?
And how can body, laid in that white rush,
A shudder in the loins engenders there
But feel the strange heart beating where it lies?
The broken wall, the burning roof and tower

And Agamemnon dead.
A shudder in the loins engenders there
Being so caught up,
The broken wall, the burning roof and tower
So mastered by the brute blood of the air,
And Agamemnon dead.
Did she put on his knowledge with his power
Being so caught up,
Before the indifferent beak could let her drop?
So mastered by the brute blood of the air,

Did she put on his knowledge with his power






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