Leda And The Swan Poem by William Butler Yeats

The reference to “Agamemnon Dead” is interesting. Agamemnon was regarded as the highest type of a powerful monarch, and in Sparta he was worshipped under the title of Zeus Agamemnon. Agamemnon commanded the Greek army in the Trojan War. The war was caused by abduction of Helen, wife of Agamemnon’s brother Menelaus by Paris. On his return, he was killed by his wife Clytemnestra or her lover Aegisthus. So much about Agamemnon Dead.

Part 2 But the painting by Leonardo Da Vinci depicts a different story of extreme passionate love between Leda Zeus. I have opted this version in my poem “The Swan And Me”. May I invite you, readers, to read this poem. Thank you.

The story of 'Leda and the Swan' from Greek myth. 'Leda and the Swan'', is also the subject of Paintings by Michaelangelo and Leonardo Da Vinci and many other gifted artists. There are many versions of this story. There is a version that Zeus raped Leda taking the shape of Swan. This was the version adopted by Michaelangelo in his painting and Yeats in this poem. Continued

‘A sudden blow’ indicates that this is a rape but what follows the apt choice of ‘caressed’ is a superbly ambiguous form of lovemaking. ‘The feathery glory from her loosening thighs’ and ‘the strange heart beating where it lies’ are superb examples of the power of art to transmute the imaginary into the real, as is the entire poem. I trust this poem has been translated, not just into Persian, but into EVERY language!