Leda and the Swan

by William Butler Yeats

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Leda and the Swan Questions and Answers

What is a critical appreciation of the poem "Leda and the Swan" by W. B. Yeats?

What is the message of the poem "Leda and the Swan," by W. B. Yeats?

Why is "Leda and the Swan" considered a modern poem?

What is the underlying theme of "Leda and the Swan"?

Critically discuss the poem "Leda and the Swan."

What is the Greek mythological story retold in Yeats’s poem "Leda and the Swan"?

Why is "Leda and the Swan" considered part of modern poetry?

In William Butler Yeats' poem "Leda and the Swan," is there any indication that Leda enjoyed the encounter?

In William Butler Yeats' poem "Leda and the Swan," discuss how according to William Butler Yeats' view, Leda's rape marks a turning point in history?

What is an analysis of Yeats's poem "Leda and the Swan"?

What is one of the main (but not obvious) themes of the poem "Leda And the Swan" by William Butler Yeats? I don't mean mood or topic, or anything like that, I mean a theme that's like a lesson to be learned.

Considering Yeat's famous allegation that "as I wrote, a bird and a lady took such possession of the scene that all politics went out of it," discuss the connection between the sexual and the political in the poem "Leda and the Swan."

What exactly is the theme of this story? Looking around other sites, a major theme has something to do with free will but I still don't quite understand. From what I understand, the poem is saying that we are bound to a certain fate and that we have no free will. This lack of free will is directly shown through Zeus raping Leda, where rape is an action where the victim submits to the attacker's will.  The last question, "Being so caught up, So mastered by the brute blood of the air, Did she put on his knowledge with his power Before the indifferent beak could let her drop?" I am having extreme difficulty understanding what the point of this is in relation to the idea of free will/fate. So if the knowledge of the future and Trojan War DID pass on to her, then she wouldn't be bound by fate and could change it by killing her child if she wanted to? Help would be much appreciated.