Point of View

The anonymous third person speaker of “Leda and the Swan” tells a story from Greek mythology as though witnessing it in the present tense. This speaker demonstrates more knowledge of Leda's point of view than they do of the swan. For example, the speaker captures Leda’s surprise in the opening line, beginning the poem with the “sudden blow” (1) that takes her off guard. They also note subjective facts such as her “terrified... fingers” (5) and the feeling of the god’s “strange heart” (8) beating against her chest. In contrast, the speaker does not see into the swan’s point of view, perceiving it by way of its “great wings” (1) and “feathered glory” (6). This asymmetry works to establish the narrator as human.

While the speaker is close enough to Leda to comment on her experience, they are sufficiently distant from her to ask questions about that...