?F He/falling bnrly thrnnm nn thr nlutr nlutr rirh
/
5. From Yeats's manuscriptJournal, Sections 248 and 250. This Journal, including facsimiles and transcriptions of the drafts of 'Leda and the Swan,' has been published in W. B. Yeats, Memoirs, ed. Denis Donoghue (London, 1972). The first version, entitled 'Annunciation,'seems to be a clean copy of earlier drafts; Yeats went on to revise it further, especially the opening octave. Neither of the other two complete drafts, each of
which Yeats labeled 'Final Version,' was in fact final. Yeats crossed out the first draft. The second, although Yeats published it in 1924, was subjected to further revision before he published the poem in The Tower (1928), in the final form reprinted in the selections from Yeats, above.
Yeats's handwriting is hasty and very difficult to decipher. The readings of some words in the manuscript are uncertain.
.
A22 / POEMS IN PROCESS
feel etc body can but lean on the white rush
But mounts until her trembling thighs are pressed6
By the webbed toes; & that all powerful bill Has suddenly bowed her head on his breast
ation
Th e sw/oping godhead is half^nvering still But mAints, until her tremblin^highs are pressed By the ebbe d toes, & that all p<verful bill
Has hung hcrj^lpi^ body
Has snddenlv bowed f|f[- |-)fart |lpnV hl'r Ho w can those terrified vague fingtVs push Th e feathered glory from her loosening thighs?
How nowjj^i^ hp^awvi^
With hrr hndy hid nn fhu II.TITTL IUJJH
all the stretched body laid on the white rush
and Ca n feelJ^m strange heart beating wl ere it lies? A shudder in the loins engenders the Th e broken wall, the burning roof & ower And Agamemnon dead .
Being master d s
et
Being ?? cuuglit up'
So
And mitf toi'cd by the brute blood of tl e air
Being HL Did nnt|-iir.rr nfl^tj hpf1'''** ^ff 'fl thr till Did she put on his knowledge with hi; power Before the indifferent beak could let f :r drop.
WB Y Sept 18 1923
swoop
A rush up'n grrnt wings & hovering st 11 H e sinks until ? He has smalt an dam*, g- faaif Th e great Jbii-d ainlu, till Th e bird descends, & her frail thigh
pressed By the webbed toes, & that all
6. This passage is written across the blank page 7. Written on the blank page across from the corn- opposite the first version; Yeats drew a line indi- plete version, with an arrow indicating that it was eating that it was to replace the revised lines 2?4, a revision of the seventh line, which he had written below the first version.
.
POEMS IN PROCESS / A2 3
Final Version
Leda & the Swan
A rush, a sudden wheel and
A !nvno|) upon grout wingr Sr hovering still
stet Th e bird & her frail^highs are pressed By the toes'w'eBbed toes, & that all powerful bill
laid
Has driiram her helpless face upon his breast. Ho w can those terrified vague fingers push Th e feathered glory from her loosening thighs?
s laid
All the stretched body laid on that white rush An d feels the strange heart beating where it lies. A shudder in the loins engenders there Th e broken wall, the burning roof & tower And Agamemnon dead.
Being so caught up So mastered by thei*? brute blood of the air Did she put on his knowledge with his power Before the indifferent beak could let her drop.
