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Question: Is this poem a metaphor for rape!.!.!.!?
Leda and the Swan
William Butler Yeats
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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Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
Yes!. The swan is Zeus!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
It sounds like it but it could also be a metaphor for war!. that's the problem with metaphors they don't exactly say hat they are for!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
i think so ):Www@QuestionHome@Com
Yes, that link is perfect!. It describes how the poem WAS written to describe the raping of Leda, by Zeus(who came in the form of a swan)!.
This is from the story of the trojan war and hellen of troy!.!.!.greek mythology!.
The story says that she was raped by Zeus, on the same night as she laid with her husband!.!.and this is to explain that she bore 2 lines of descendants from her
I THINK the reason zeus appears as a swan is simply because middle age painters didnt want to paint copulation between a man and woman(that would be going too far, being too explicit, for a picture)!.!.so a swan was used!.!.as a metaphor!.(a euphemism)!.
It would be interesting to actually read that story (yes I actually didnt, so my answer is from googling synopsis!.!.sorry!)!.!.but it would be good if i understood who Leda actually was in the play, and why she would lament agamemnon's murder!.!.
well theres my confesion that I'm not fit to answer!! lol
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!.!.!.Trying to understand this poem leaves me wanting to know: what does the end line "Did she put on his knowledge with his power (before the indifferent beak could let her drop!?" mean!?
!.!."Did she put on his knowledge with his power!?"
-- is it biblical "knowledge" it asks about!?
well then what does he mean by "Did she put it on"!?
after much struggling with that (and in spite of my conviction that if the answer exists somewhere, I shouldnt just offer my guess), I have decided that!.!.
the beak was "indifferent" to indicate that zeus cared nothing about hurting her (he cared just about the act)!.
and that the 2 lines actually ask did she enjoy it by the end, was she pulling him towards her rather than pushing him away!.
Now if theres anyone who knows this story better then me, please, by all means!.!.!.am I right!?Www@QuestionHome@Com