Leda And The Swan

William Butler Yeats 1865 (Sandymount) – 1939 (Menton)



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

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 24, 2023

34 sec read
562

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABABCDEDFGHIFGJ
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 620
Words 115
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 15

William Butler Yeats

William Butler Yeats was an Irish poet and one of the foremost figures of 20th century literature. more…

All William Butler Yeats poems | William Butler Yeats Books

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