William Butler Yeats: "Leda and the Swan"

Aim:
What traditions of the sonnet does this poem follow?  More importantly, how does the poet create his own set of rules?

Leda and the Swan is one of the most often illustrated scenes from mythology.  You can see a variety of images including those by Salvador Dali, and Leonardo Da Vinci.  After looking at the images, make a list of visual images that are supplied by the diction in Yeats's poem. 

Procedure:
How has the poet organized his sonnet?  Why is it important that it is "disguised" at first glance as a poem that might not be recognized as a sonnet because of the way line 11 is broken up?  Obviously the story of Agamemnon is important to understand line 11.  If you need a brief entry that might explain what this allusion means, you may want to check out < http://www.encyclopedia.com/html/a/agamemno.asp>.

What is ironic about using the sonnet form for this poem?  How does it change the image of the sonnet for you?  Look carefully at the rhyme scheme of the poem?  How has Yeats created a hybrid form?  How does the theme of a hybrid play into the theme of the poem?

Activity: 
What are aspects of the poem that you've discovered?  Write up your own close reading of the poem. Use the following guide:
· How would you sum up the theme?  What best sums up the meaning of each stanza?  With what ideas is the poem centrally concerned? 
· What is the dramatic situation?  Who is speaking? To whom is the poem addressed?  Where does the poem take place? 
· Does the poem have a traditional structure or does the poem create its own?  Are there stanzas?  If so, how are they organized?  Are there words that are repeated from stanza to stanza? Does the poem have an obvious form?
· What are the central images?  How does the poet use figurative language? 
· How does the poet use diction?  What key words does the poet choose?  Does he use any synonyms or antonyms in the poem that might reveal tension and opposition?
     

Optional webactivity:
Interested in Irish Studies?  Visit NYU's Ireland House (http://www.nyu.edu/pages/irelandhouse/). What activites are open to you if you are interested in a further study of Irish literature?  Are you interested in other Irish sonneteers?  Visit (http://www.sonnets.org/ireland.htm) and find another writer of sonnets who reminds you of the authors you've read thus far.