I thought that the poem was very sad. I also thought that it was difficult to read, because the attacker was likened to a swan, which is an injustice. Swans are beautiful creatures, and the perpetrator was nothing that could be considered beautiful. The helpless Leda was a true victim.
William Butler Yeats may have used this portrayal of a rape from mythology because it may have sounded less brutal. Using a swan as the rapist may make it more difficult for the reader to realize that a rape had occurred. If one read the poem and could actually understand that a rape had in fact happened, Yates may have wanted to soften the attack by using the swan as an example. Rape is a very difficult subject to talk about, no matter when it occurs, past or present. There are words that are used in this poem from the early twentieth-century that are still used today when discussing rape. "Sudden blow," "staggering girl," "terrified," "shudder" and "broken wall" are just some of these words. Violence is another theme hidden in this poem, and rape was and always will be violent.
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I realize this post is about two years old, but Leda and the Swan is based off an ancient Greek legend wherein Zeus transforms himself into a swan and rapes Leda. Keats merely put it into a sonnet. Additionally, the broken wall and burning tower allude to the fall of Troy - Leda gave birth to two eggs, which hatched two twins each. One of these children was Helen of Troy, who eventually caused the destruction of the city as men fought over her and her beauty.
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