yeats and keats
Yeats's Leda and the Swan and Hopkins's The Windhover incorporate birds to represent superior beings. With the use of their superior powers, the birds initiate violent attacks on the weaker subjects of their domain. The falcon circles high then swiftly swoops to attack his prey while the swan, metaphorically Zeus, strikes then rapes Leda. The birds in both poems have divine characteristics; they are masters of their element and have complete control of their situation. The Windhover begins slowly with detailed description of the Kestrels flight: "High there, how he rung upon the rein of a wimpling wing". Its narrative format gives the reader a first hand account of its perfection. Its beauty and complete mastery of flight stirs the speaker's heart that previously was in a state of "hiding". The sight of the falcon awakens feelings the speaker never knew existed. He recognizes its precision and power yet he also identifies the potential danger of its ability. The combination of "brute beauty", "valor", and "pride" results in an explosion of energy or "fire that breaks from" the Kestrel. Each time it strikes it becomes stronger, wiser, and "more dangerous". In calling, "O my chevalier!" the speaker reveals his desir
The rhyme scheme of the first stanza gives a sense of stability. As the falcon hovers, he does not stay stationary in relation to altitude. Beneath, the wind is steady but rolling, pushing him slightly up and down, but always returning him to the middle. The first "A" rhyme is followed by two "B", two "A", two "B", and then one "A", ending where it began, rolling like the wind. Rhyming pairs give the stanza a slow methodical feel. However, in the second stanza, when he begins to move faster and swoop towards his prey, the rhyme quickens. The "CDCDCD" structure of the final two stanzas produces a sense of rapid urgency, mirroring the motion of the falcon. The first two lines of Leda and the Swan assert the dominance of the swan and the weakness of the girl. Having the poem begin with "a sudden blow" immediately sets a violent tone, however, this one blow is the first and only violent act Zeus commits. After the initial blow his demeanor changes. He quickly shifts from violent to compassionate. Instead of striking Leda, he caresses "her thighs" and "holds her helpless breast upon his breast". Overwhelmed with his divine presence, she never attempts to fight back. Breast to breast, the swan takes
Some common words found in the essay are:
Hopkins's Windhover, King Agamemnon, Leda Swan, Christ Lord, Trojan War, Kestrel Swan, Zeus Leda, Helen Clytemnestra, trojan war, sight falcon, rhyme scheme, leda's thighs, leda swan, breast breast,
Approximate Word count = 816
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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