1. English Literature
Megan Cunningham
Discuss how Yates presents power in “Leda and the Swan”.
The poem “Leda and the Swan” (“Leda”) is written by W.B Yeats and is inspired by the Greek
mythology. It is about Zeus, who in the form of a swan, seduces and then rapes Leda. This violent act
is a symbol of control and could reflect how the vulnerable and naive Ireland (Leda) is being
manipulated by the dominant England (Zeus). In addition, this rape could be a metaphor for the lack
of care or interest that God has in humans’ happiness: we are used and then ‘drop[ped]’ when there is
no more use for us.
In many ways, this poem could be seen as being heavily influenced by the Romantic movement. It has
an animal frequently associated with elegance and beauty at its core; the narrative is derived from
classical literature and myth and Yeats has used the sonnet form to contain the poem. However, this
poem is far from Romantic as the language is masculine and graphically violent. It is certainly not the
nature of Wordsworth’s ‘Daffodils’ or the creative world of Coleridge’s ‘Ancient Mariner’. The swan
denies his innocent white façade as he attacks Leda with a ‘sudden blow’. The beak becomes a phallic
symbol of destruction and brutality and is used to ‘hold her helpless’ until, with a ‘shudder’ he lets her
‘drop’.
Yeats opens the poem with ‘A sudden blow: the great wings beating still’ as the swan penetrates the
unsuspecting Leda. The plosive use of the verb ‘blow’ emphasises the speed and force of the act and so
we are left, as Leda is, feeling vulnerable and frightened. Yeats challenges our expectations with the
use of the adjective ‘great’ here as we would normally associate this with someone who is morally
‘great’ yet here it simply captures the strength of the swan and the weakness of the human: it is not
until we are utterly powerless that we realise it. Throughout the first stanza Yeats uses language to
force the reader to imagine the scene in graphic detail; the swan holds her with his ‘dark webs’ and
she is left ‘staggering’ and ‘helpless’. The ‘dark webs’ of course refer to the swan’s feet but the
connotations of this phrase are deeply disturbing. Yeats suggests that we are somehow surrounded by
these ‘webs’ that wait in a predatory fashion. We cannot see them but once we become entangled,
there is no escape. These ‘webs’ could be unrequited love (Maud Gonne) or finding that your country
is painting a future of violence and unrest (as in ‘Easter 1916’ or ‘The Second Coming’). The point is
clear though: we cannot avoid these ‘webs’ that will ultimately destroy us.
Yeats creates a contrast between the language of power and violence and the sensual and erotic
intimacy as the swan ‘holds her helpless breast upon his breast.’ The repeated plosive consonants, ‘h’
and ‘b’, reflect the vicious nature of the attack – she is ‘h[e]ld’ in position. However, at the same time
the sibilant ‘s’ sound creates a sense of intimacy and romance: the position is almost a cliché of
romantic love yet it is forced for the swan’s sexual gratification. Yeats seems to suggest that this act is
both incredibly aggressive and disturbing yet is also mildly erotic and is almost how we understand
our world to be. The violence is inevitable and is even possibly beautiful – as the number of sculptures
and paintings inspired by this myth would suggest.
After the initial act of penetration, the second stanza is used to explore the rape and its outcome. Yeats
writes: “those terrified vague fingers push” as he captures Leda’s futile attempt to free herself from
the swan. Emphasis is laid on the adjectiveswhich, again, seem to be in conflict. Her actions are
‘terrified’ but yet are also uselessly “vague”. It is as Yeats states in ‘The Second Coming’‘the best lack
all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity’. Somehow, we find ourselves feeling
irritated and disappointed by Leda’s weak response and it seems uncertain and without conviction. It
is the swan’s desire to destroy her that is ‘great’ here and ultimately we almost find ourselves almost
being impressed by its ‘passionate intensity’ to do harm.

2. English Literature
Megan Cunningham
Additionally, Yeats writes that as her ordeal continues she has “loosening thighs?”.There is a bizarre
sense of pleasure captured here as she seems to almost enjoy her treatment. The sense of violence
breeding violence, ‘a terrible beauty is born’ in ‘Easter 1916’, is reflected as, like Ireland, she becomes
used to this type of treatment. Yeats mirrors his fears that order is breaking and chaos will reign. By
using the adjective ‘loosening’, he implies that her ability to reject this break in the natural order is
fading - a concern that is also apparent in ‘The Second Coming’ when he describes the anarchic beast
that represent violent change being ‘loosed upon the world’. Yet, as is typical of Yeats this situation is
not obvious. The use of a question mark places doubt in Zeus’ power and implies that she could still be
offering some level of resistance. As Ireland still fight against England – despite being invaded: they
are weakened or ‘loosen[ed]’ but not totally defeated.
At the end of second stanza, Yeats writes that Leda can‘feel the strange heart beating where it lies?’.
This pun serves to illustrate the literal power that the swan exerts over her as he ‘lies’ on her – like
Ireland is invaded by England. Moreover, the verb ‘lies’ parallels the seduction of Leda: the swan has
lied to her in order to then take advantage of her. This could reflect the superficiality and fickleness of
human nature as also explored in ‘September 1913’ where the people pray but it is for materialistic
gain as they ‘fumble in the greasy till’. People are more than happy to be hypocritical if it means that
they gain: he implies that we are all fundamentally selfish. There is also a sense in which Yeats
suggests that the world, and God, is tricking us. We feeling that we are going to fall in love or be happy
but then we realise it is all an illusion. Strangely, however, this image of the ‘heart beating’ as it ‘lies’
next to hers creates a sense of romantic intimacy and only serves to reminds us about why this story
or image has inspired so many beautiful works of art. There is a sense of beauty in the closeness of
this tragedy and, although not a collaborative act of love, it is an experience that they have shared.
The third stanza is an exploration of the result of the rape.Yeats states that the “wall” is “broken”.
Which creates a sense of unity but also chaos, in that any sense of division is demolished but so too is
any sense of structure and order. Despite her resistance, she has the “broken” and cannot return to
her original state.In this sense Ireland cannot ever return to what it once was. Yeats begins the next
line: “And Agamemnon dead.” It is the last verse of this stanza, and with the fronted conjunction,
“And”,he seems to break the grammatical structure and order. The words now control the poem and
do not follow commands as ‘mere anarchy is loosed upon the world’. Furthermore this third stanza is
separated from the final stanza but the brevity of the third stanza appears to be cut short and it is as if
it has been divorced or torn from the concluding stanza. This sense of violent confusion is mirrored
even in the structure of the poem.
UNEDITED FINAL STANZA: The last stanza, starts where the third ended, it contradicts to the full stop,
showing that the rape isn’t completely finished. The verse starts backed up, but doesn’t give us a
reason why.
Yeats writes, “Did she put on his knowledge with his power”, which directly tells us how big his power
was. Leda, may didn’t understand how big his actual power was and what just happened and that she
doesn’t really understand what happened. However, it is an interesting use of “put on” though did she
learn from the rape, did she appear to have learned from his power?
The last verse of this poem is interesting and important because it ends with a question mark “Before
the indifferent beak could let her drop?”. The swan fulfilled his needs; he doesn’t need her anymore so
he leaves her. He doesn’t have any use for her, so lets her drop after raping her.
Interesting is, that she got pregnant and gave birth to Helen, she was born out of violence and so
continued with it. She caused the death of a lot of people. You can link her also to the poem “Easter
1916” – “a terrible beauty is born”. Helen is the terrible beauty; people say she was the most beautiful
woman ever existed and caused the death of so many people.