Yeats’ Leda and the Swan and Van Duyns Leda Essay -- Leda Swan Essays

Yeats Leda and the Swan and Van Duyns Leda In Greek mythology, Leda, a Spartan queen, was so beautiful that Zeus, ruler of the gods, decided he must have her. Since immortals usually did not present themselves to humankind in their divine forms, Zeus changed himself into a great swan and in that shape ravished the at sea girl (Carey 58-59). Both William Butler Yeats and Mona Van Duyn base their poems Leda and the Swan and Leda, respectively, on this story of a mystic marriage. Yeats focus on the sexual act itself, along with his allusions to Ledas progeny, manifest a grave and terrifying tone. While he raises Leda to a status similar to that of Mary, mother of Jesus, Van Duyn portrays Leda as a universal mother. By making both figures, Leda and Zeus, ordinary, she gives a surprising twist (Greiner 337) to the original myth, emphasized by her witty tone. In addition, whereas Yeats suggests that Leda has gained something from her encounter with Zeus, Van Duyn asserts that she has ga ined nothing, portraying women in world-wide as primarily objects of mens satisfaction. Yeats begins his poem by concentrating on the mere depiction of the rape scene. Words such as beating, dark, helpless, and terrified provide this uncivilized act of intrusion with negative connotations. The victim, Leda, is helpless against the power of the aggressor, Zeus, and terrified by his actions. Recalling the original Greek myth, Yeats clearly shows Ledas resistance at every step ( walk girl, helpless breast, terrified vague fingers push). Zeus relationship with Leda parallels human interaction in general with either Satan or God. In Christianity, the prevailing pietism of Yeats time, pious men attempt to push away ... ...f violence, and underlying religious motif. Overall, Yeats instills fear into the reader, while Van Duyn elicits an occasional laugh however, both poems are every bit effective, one for its religious message and the other for its man bashing. Works Cited Barnh art, Clarence L. and Robert K. The World Book vocabulary. ChicagoDoubleday, 1985. Carey, Gary. Cliffs Notes on Mythology. Lincoln C.K. Hillegass, 1973. Greiner, Donald J. American Poets since World War II. Dictionary of LiteraryBiographies. DetroitDoubleday, 1980. Heaney, Seamus. The Redress of Poetry . New York Noonday, 1995. Magill, Frank N. Critical Survey of Poetry. Engelwood Cliffs Salem Press, 1982. Vol. 7 Torah The Five Books of Moses. Tanakh The Holy Scriptures. Philadelphia Jewish Publication Society, 1985.