Leda and the Swan - drafts and publication W.B. Yeats encoded by Brian Jay Stanley

Brian Jay Stanley

Norton Anthology of English Literature, Seventh Edition, Volume 2

 Leda and the Swan W.B. Yeats 1st draft Sept 18, 1923 Now can the swooping Godhead have his will Yet hovers, though her helpless things are pressed By the webbed toes; and that all powerful bill Has suddenly bowed her face upon his breast. How can those terrified vague fingers push The feathered glory from her loosening thighs? All the stretched body's laid on that white rush And feels the strong 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 Did nothing pass before her in the air? Did she put on his knowledge with his power Before the indifferent beak could let her drop Leda and the Swan W.B. Yeats Final draft Sept 18, 1923 A swoop upon great wings & hovering still The bird descends & her frail things are pressed By the webbed toes, & that all powerful bill Has laid her helpless face upon his breast. How can those terrified vague fingers push The feathered glory from her loosening thighs? All the stretched body's laid on that white rush And feels the strange heart beating where it lies. A shudder in the loins engenders there The broken wall, the burning roof & 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. Leda and the Swan W.B. Yeats Published version Sept 1923 A sudden blow: the great wings beating still Above the staggering girl, her things 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?