William Butler Yeats' poem "Leda and the Swan" is a hauntingly beautiful recreation of the Greek myth in which Zeus takes the form of a swan in order to seduce Leda, who, as a result of this brutality becomes the mother of Helen of Troy-the woman who is credited with starting the Trojan War. Yeats' choice of employing the sonnet format (sometimes associated with romantic thoughts) in order to retell this story, along with other poetic techniques, allows the poem to go beyond the familiar story which has been told and retold many times.
             Within the realm of the storyline, this poem captures the moment during which Zeus, disguised as a swan, overwhelms and attacks a helpless young woman. During the first four lines of the poem, the speaker wastes no time in situating the reader as to what is occurring:
             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.
             First of all, swans are not often associated with being birds of violence. One might envision a vulture attacking someone, but swans are thought of as birds of beauty and grace, and symbolize elegance and peacefulness. The action of the swan in the poem actions is the total opposite and one may find it ironic. This could imply the reason that Zeus chose this bird for his disguise: it would be easier to surprise and overwhelm Leda.
             Starting the poem with this instance of violence as Yeats chooses to, brings the reader immediately in on a moment of supreme horror. Throughout the poem, the compact nature of the lines, all in iambic pentameter, along with their rhyming endings, further escalate the fever pitch of the moment by swiftly moving along the reader. The ringing assonance of end words "still" and "bill", "caressed" and "breast" all work to keep the reader riveted as to what i...