"Leda and the Swan"
By
William Butler Yeats
Transcription, correction, editorial commentary, and markup by Students and Staff of the University of Virginia
THE DIAL
JUNE 1924 495 WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS LEDA AND THE SWAN 1A sudden blow: the great wings beating still 2Above the staggering girl, her thighs caressed 3By the dark webs, her nape caught in his bill, 4He holds her helpless breast upon his breast. 5How can those terrified vague fingers push 6The feathered glory from her loosening thighs? 7And how can body, laid in that white rush, 8But feel the strange heart beating where it lies? 9A shudder in the loins engenders there 10The broken wall, the burning roof and tower 11And Agamemnon dead. 12Being so caught up, 13So mastered by the brute blood of the air, 14Did she put on his knowledge with his power 15Before the indifferent beak could let her drop?
JUNE 1924 495 WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS LEDA AND THE SWAN 1A sudden blow: the great wings beating still 2Above the staggering girl, her thighs caressed 3By the dark webs, her nape caught in his bill, 4He holds her helpless breast upon his breast. 5How can those terrified vague fingers push 6The feathered glory from her loosening thighs? 7And how can body, laid in that white rush, 8But feel the strange heart beating where it lies? 9A shudder in the loins engenders there 10The broken wall, the burning roof and tower 11And Agamemnon dead. 12Being so caught up, 13So mastered by the brute blood of the air, 14Did she put on his knowledge with his power 15Before the indifferent beak could let her drop?