Leda and the Swan Summary
William Butler Yeats

Everything you need to understand or teach Leda and the Swan by William Butler Yeats.

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Leda and the Swan Overview

“Leda and the Swan” is a fourteen-line sonnet by Irish poet William Butler Yeats. It was originally published in 1924 in The Dial. The poem adapts a Greek myth in which the god Zeus takes the form of a swan in order to rape the Spartan queen Leda. An erotic Petrarchan sonnet, the poem begins as a description of a surprising sexual union but quickly expands in scope to explore issues of free will and historical rebirth.

Study Pack

The Leda and the Swan Study Pack contains:

Leda and the Swan Study Guide