Leda and the Swan Starter: Watch this war footage. As you watch, imagine that you are an author/poet living within this ‘war zone’….what would you think, write, do? Write a piece of writing that reflects your thoughts/feelings/views

Leda and the Swan Background Written during the Irish Civil War Modernist Poem (concerned with the relationship between man and his environment and the environment and the man) Form is that of Petrarchan sonnet (14 lines into two parts, the first part being an octave and the second being a sestet) Retelling of a story from Greek mythology Leda, is raped by the God Zeus In the story Zeus has taken the form of a swan. Born of this rape is Helen of Troy. Her abduction years later leads to the whose abduction years later leads to the Trojan War. Trojan War—long, destructive, lead to the destruction of early Greek civilisation and the beginning of a new era.

Petrarchan Sonnet The octave and sestet have special functions in a Petrarchan sonnet. The octave's purpose is to introduce a problem, express a desire, reflect on reality, or otherwise present a situation that causes doubt or a conflict within the speaker's soul and inside an animal and object in the story. It usually does this by introducing the problem within its first quatrain (unified four-line section) and developing it in the second.quatrain The beginning of the sestet is known as the volta, and it introduces a pronounced change in tone in the sonnet; the change in rhyme scheme marks the turn.volta The sestet's purpose as a whole is to make a comment on the problem or to apply a solution to it. The pair are separate but usually used to reinforce a unified argument - they are often compared to two strands of thought organically converging into one argument, rather than a mechanical deduction.

Language How is a violent tone created? Look at: Plosives (short, harsh sounds)? Imagery? Verbs?

Form and Structure How is violence conveyed in the first stanza (quatrain)? Look at: Language? Lack of Connectives? Caesura? Use of Enjambment?

Language There is a wealth of juxtapositions in this poem. How is the juxtaposition between power/strength and weakness/helplessness portrayed? What does this suggest about the ‘relationship’ between the swan and Leda?

Question Some critics argue that this poem represents Ireland’s metaphorical rape by the English. How far do you agree with this view? What evidence supports your view?