Script for Poem analysis: “leda and the swan” First, explain motives for choosing this poem. -Since elementary school, I have always been interested in Greek mythology. I watched cartoons and read books both in comic and not comic. So when I was searching for poems, I specifically looked for ones that was related to greek mythology. So here we go. Second, Recite the poem (with the right pictures in place of the poem): 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[20] 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? Third, Provide Background the poem -Let’s use our TPCASTT method! The title, yes. This poem definitely has a title that helps us out. “Leda and the Swan”—it’s a greek myth-duh. I know that some of you are not interested in greek mythology at all, but you might have heard about this myth once in your life time. But really, all you need to know is that Leda was a girl from Ancient Greece who was raped by the Zeus, the head of the Greek gods, disguised as a graceful swan. As a result of the encounter, Leda gave birth to Helen of Troy and also gave birth to the twin warriors Castor and Pollux. And these “children” were hatched from eggs. The Trojan War was fought over Helen, who was lawfully married to a Greek king before being abducted by a Trojan prince. Fourth, Summarize the poem in a nutshell. So apparently, a swan lands on top of a young girl and caresses her thighs and rapes her. As the swan completes the act, Leda is pregnant. She will give birth to Helen of Troy and in Yeast’s poem, Leda’s rape is taken as an inderect cause of war. Fifth, look for symbols This poem has a lot of synecdoche (define this term in subtitles). For instance, the bird is used to represent the whole. Line 3 to 4: dark webs=swan’s webbed feet Line 6: feathered glory=swan’s divinity…or genitals Line 12: the poem makes reference to the swan by one of his parts, the "brute blood" in his veins. To make it more complex, the phrase "brute blood of the air" has another meaning as a metaphor – as if the air were a living thing with its own blood. (example of synecdoche) Line 14: “Indifferent break” refers to the indifference of Zeus. Part of the swan is used to describe the whole....(example of synecdoche) Also beak is personified to human’s feelings Sixth, analyze the form of the poem It is obviously a sonnet with 14 lines. Petrarchean sonnet Thematic shift after the eighth line as the description of the rape ends. So Yeats creates a new theme : consequences of the act (in perspective of Leda and as of the society since it explains the war. It is crucial to notice how this sonnet is different from other sonnets because line 11 is breaken off to two lines. Yeats divides line 11 to emphasize Agamemnon’s death—probably. Also, he wants to show that the poem is shifting back to Leda’s perspective. Moreover, the meter is quite irregular in this poem. But the rough iambic pentameter seems to be common beat overall. -give an example and read with accents. The rought meter fits the poem because the theme itself is very strong since it about “Rape by God.” The meter, as I said before, changes to eleven beats on the last line. Speaking of rhyme scheme, the general pattern is ABAB CDCD EFGEFG. But the rhyme is slant rhyme—meaning it’s not perfectly rhmying. -give an example: push rush/ up drop Seventh, answer the questions in the poem How can those terrified vague fingers push The feathered glory from her loosening thighs? (lines 5-6) The second stanza seems to be about the justification for Leda's lack of free will. She is too frightened to take any course of action to stop what's happening.The speaker's use of a rhetorical question suggests that the encounter is fated. And how can body, laid in that white rush, But feel the strange heart beating where it lies? (lines 7-8) Although Leda gets raped by the swan, she never gains a clear view of the swan. She sees only a "white rush" of feathers. These lines may imply that Leda's resistance to the swan is weakening. She might see him with fascination now. Did she put on his knowledge with his power Before the indifferent beak could let her drop?(lines 13-14) Through the intercourse, it might be that Leda has received part of Zeus’s knowledge—very interesting part here. However, she would have to become immortal if she were to be like a god. However, gaining knowledge of god is another thing. Here, the poem raises many questions. We cannot be sure if Zeus knows the having sex with Leda will lead to Trojan War or not. The questions are unanswered—left for the audience for free interpretation. Eighth, define the speaker of the poem Unlike other sonnets, who the speaker of the poem is not as important as it should be in general—I think. The speaker just seems to be the spectator—yet not helping Leda out. The speaker shows such curiosity through the rhetorical questions in the poem. Nevertheless, it is ironic that the speaker is curious about what’s going on but already know the ending. The speaker seems to link the past to the future to comtemplate its meaning. Ninth, conclude the analysis Yeats does not try hide the “life of human” in his poem. He is pretty much straightforward with his word choices. So basically the poem manages to portray the relationship between human and god, the weakness and strength—binary oppositions. One thing I want to point out that I thought was interesting was the fact that swan have genitals outside of their body—so the swan was the perfect cast for such an act. Greek mythologies are fun !
“leda and the swan”
First, explain motives for choosing this poem.
-Since elementary school, I have always been interested in Greek mythology. I watched cartoons and read books both in comic and not comic. So when I was searching for poems, I specifically looked for ones that was related to greek mythology. So here we go.
Second, Recite the poem (with the right pictures in place of the poem):
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[20]
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?
Third, Provide Background the poem
-Let’s use our TPCASTT method! The title, yes. This poem definitely has a title that helps us out. “Leda and the Swan”—it’s a greek myth-duh. I know that some of you are not interested in greek mythology at all, but you might have heard about this myth once in your life time. But really, all you need to know is that Leda was a girl from Ancient Greece who was raped by the Zeus, the head of the Greek gods, disguised as a graceful swan. As a result of the encounter, Leda gave birth to Helen of Troy and also gave birth to the twin warriors Castor and Pollux. And these “children” were hatched from eggs. The Trojan War was fought over Helen, who was lawfully married to a Greek king before being abducted by a Trojan prince.
Fourth, Summarize the poem in a nutshell.
So apparently, a swan lands on top of a young girl and caresses her thighs and rapes her. As the swan completes the act, Leda is pregnant. She will give birth to Helen of Troy and in Yeast’s poem, Leda’s rape is taken as an inderect cause of war.
Fifth, look for symbols
This poem has a lot of synecdoche (define this term in subtitles). For instance, the bird is used to represent the whole.
Line 3 to 4: dark webs=swan’s webbed feet
Line 6: feathered glory=swan’s divinity…or genitals
Line 12: the poem makes reference to the swan by one of his parts, the "brute blood" in his veins. To make it more complex, the phrase "brute blood of the air" has another meaning as a metaphor – as if the air were a living thing with its own blood. (example of synecdoche)
Line 14: “Indifferent break” refers to the indifference of Zeus. Part of the swan is used to describe the whole....(example of synecdoche) Also beak is personified to human’s feelings
Sixth, analyze the form of the poem
It is obviously a sonnet with 14 lines.
Petrarchean sonnet
Thematic shift after the eighth line as the description of the rape ends.
So Yeats creates a new theme : consequences of the act (in perspective of Leda and as of the society since it explains the war.
It is crucial to notice how this sonnet is different from other sonnets because line 11 is breaken off to two lines. Yeats divides line 11 to emphasize Agamemnon’s death—probably. Also, he wants to show that the poem is shifting back to Leda’s perspective.
Moreover, the meter is quite irregular in this poem. But the rough iambic pentameter seems to be common beat overall.
-give an example and read with accents.
The rought meter fits the poem because the theme itself is very strong since it about “Rape by God.”
The meter, as I said before, changes to eleven beats on the last line.
Speaking of rhyme scheme, the general pattern is ABAB CDCD EFGEFG. But the rhyme is slant rhyme—meaning it’s not perfectly rhmying.
-give an example: push rush/ up drop
Seventh, answer the questions in the poem
How can those terrified vague fingers push
The feathered glory from her loosening thighs? (lines 5-6)
The second stanza seems to be about the justification for Leda's lack of free will. She is too frightened to take any course of action to stop what's happening.The speaker's use of a rhetorical question suggests that the encounter is fated.
And how can body, laid in that white rush,
But feel the strange heart beating where it lies? (lines 7-8)
Although Leda gets raped by the swan, she never gains a clear view of the swan. She sees only a "white rush" of feathers. These lines may imply that Leda's resistance to the swan is weakening. She might see him with fascination now.
Did she put on his knowledge with his power
Before the indifferent beak could let her drop?(lines 13-14)
Through the intercourse, it might be that Leda has received part of Zeus’s knowledge—very interesting part here. However, she would have to become immortal if she were to be like a god. However, gaining knowledge of god is another thing. Here, the poem raises many questions. We cannot be sure if Zeus knows the having sex with Leda will lead to Trojan War or not. The questions are unanswered—left for the audience for free interpretation.
Eighth, define the speaker of the poem
Unlike other sonnets, who the speaker of the poem is not as important as it should be in general—I think. The speaker just seems to be the spectator—yet not helping Leda out. The speaker shows such curiosity through the rhetorical questions in the poem. Nevertheless, it is ironic that the speaker is curious about what’s going on but already know the ending. The speaker seems to link the past to the future to comtemplate its meaning.
Ninth, conclude the analysis
Yeats does not try hide the “life of human” in his poem. He is pretty much straightforward with his word choices. So basically the poem manages to portray the relationship between human and god, the weakness and strength—binary oppositions. One thing I want to point out that I thought was interesting was the fact that swan have genitals outside of their body—so the swan was the perfect cast for such an act.
Greek mythologies are fun !