"Leda and The Swan" By: William Butler Yeats (1923) 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 a body, laid in that white rush, But feel the strange heart beating where it lies? A …showed first 75 words of 2503 total…

…showed last 75 words of 2503 total…act involving an innocent person. By using a Greek myth for the basis of this sonnet, Yeats words become more effective in representing the poem's violent tone, and a powerless mortal versus the powerful immortal foundation. With the use of allusion (referring to Greek mythology), alliteration, enjambment, and rhyme scheme W. B. Yeats creates very vivid images to demonstrate the deceitful acts of Zeus. "Leda and the Swan" Analyzed By: Kristen Terbeek Introduction to Literature