Between the Lines

Leda and the Swan BY WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS A sudden blow: the great wings beating still  Above the staggering girl, her thighs caressed  By the dark webs, her nape caught in his bill,  He holds her helpless breast upon his breast.  How can those terrified vague fingers push  The feathered glory from her loosening thighs?  And how can body, laid in that white rush,  But feel the strange heart beating where it lies?  A shudder in the loins engenders there  The broken wall, the burning roof and tower  And Agamemnon dead.  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? WB Yates Leda and the swan is a daring sonnet by Irish poet William Butler Yates that retells the story from Greek mythology of Leda,s impregnation  by the god...

Key Terms: Alliteration  - Repeated sound of the first consonant in a series of multiple words. Apostrophe  - Directly addressing something, someone or an abstract concept not present in the poem. Volta -  The turn of thought or argument in a sonnet. Iambic Pentameter -  Line of five feet of unstressed followed by stressed syllables.   Personification -  Human qualities given to animals, objects or ideas. Speaker  - The voice narrating the poem. Not necessarily the poet.  It has been a long time since I have done a close reading, and with all my blogs on theory and criticism, I think its important not to lose sight of our appreciation for the art. So in today's blog we will go back to the basics of appreciating and admiring poetry for what it is. I have chosen to look at this sonnet by John Keats -  Bright Star! Would I Were Steadfast As Thou Art. BRIGHT star! would I were steadfast as thou art—   Not in...