Yeats’ Leda and the Swan and Van Duyn's 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 helpless 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
of Yeats’ most famous works, such as ‘Sailing to Byzantium’, ‘Long-legged Fly’ and ‘Easter 1916’, to name just a few, it is an aspect of his poetry which is relevant to almost all of his writing. However, it is in Yeats’ apocalyptic poems, ‘Leda and the Swan’ and ‘The
Walking towards the entrance of the museum, a Jazz singer sings the tunes of the Harlem Renaissance, signifying political figures’ strengths and empowerment for communities to commemorate. Undeniably, Countee Cullen contributes a fourth note to the paradigm for future generations to employ as an prominent source. Continuing forward into the facility, an exhibits secures pictures of a male, ranging from a newborn to a man in a suit. Sharon Olds mourns a mature son in the last picture. Stepping into
that infant after he has lived through '"'sixty or more winters.'"' Would she, he wonders, think the result worth the pain of her labor and of all her coming anxieties over her helpless infant"'"s welfare? In the final three stanzas, the personal note that has pervaded the poem is dropped as the speaker explores in rapid order the breadth and scope of all human thought and endeavor—from Plato to Aristotle and Pythagoras, from nuns to mothers to youthful lovers—seeking some solace for the tragic
Never-Ending Prescription Walking towards the entrance of the museum, a Jazz singer sings the tunes of the Harlem Renaissance, signifying political figures’ strengths and empowerment for communities to commemorate. Countee Cullen contributes a fourth note to the paradigm for future generations to employ as an prominent source. Continuing forward into the facility, an exhibits secures pictures of a male, ranging from a newborn to a man in a suit. Sharon Olds mourns a mature son in the last picture. Stepping
Many of these myths regarding sexual behavior include sexual relations with some sort of animal. An example of this is the story of Leda and the Swan. Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece and Rome, a book by E.M. Berens, explains that Zeus came down in the form of a swan to consort with Leda (Berens 34). The result of this encounter was the birth of Helen and Pollux. Leda was one of the many mortal consorts of Zeus which gives an idea of how common this was in Greek mythology. Another example of bestiality
W.B. Yeats, a key figure of the modernist movement of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, was born in Dublin in 1865. Although spending much of his childhood and youth in London, Yeats is seen as an inherently Irish literary figure. Through his early work, employing not only ancient Greek myth, but also Celtic legend, he sought to re-ignite in Ireland notions of heritage and tradition, which had diminished through the years. In Ireland, from around 1890 onwards, there was a very noticeable
dichotomy of the thinker and the actor. Yeats, in love with Maud Gonne, was the thinker, the courtly lover -- the one who would "brood upon love's bitter mystery." Yeats was Mr. Nice Guy. Yet Yeats wanted to be the actor - the alpha male - the Fergus. Note the sexualized subtext that permeates the poem, who will "pierce the deep wood's woven shade"? Who will "drive" with Fergus. Finally, we get the reasons to be the alpha male - the man of action, in the repetition of the word "rules." The alpha commands
Leonardo’s sexuality was always an unclear construct. Regardless of whom he preferred romantically, many of his portraits are absolutely filled with sensuality. There is something so obvious, so crude, about Leonardo da Vinci 's portrait of Cecilia Gallerani that it might seem beneath discussion. The 16-year-old mistress of the ruler of Milan, Ludovico Sforza, is stroking an ermine. The creature is white, furry and bony. Scholars have written reams about this ermine 's significance as an allegory
The very beginning lines of the epistle are ironic as it opens on a note of familiarity reflected by the ‘you’ accompanied by a witty remark. “Nothing so true as what you once let fall, Most women have no Characters at all." The ironic