A sudden blow: the great wings beating still.
-- Speaker (Line 1)

Importance: The abrupt opening of “Leda and the Swan” situates the poem's perspective close to the recipient of “the sudden blow” (1). This introduction serves to position the reader alongside the human in “Leda and the Swan,” encouraging the reader to experience Leda's surprise and fear alongside her. Even though the point of view is ultimately third person, these lines work to align reader with Leda while alienating the reader from the god, whom the point of few observes objectively as “great wings” (1).

Her thighs caressed / By the dark webs, her nape caught in his bill.
-- Speaker (Lines 2 – 3)

Importance: These lines, which appear in the first quatrain, establish Leda’s sense of entrapment and her lack of choice in what is happening. The speaker's punning description of the swan’s feet as “dark webs” (3) compares Leda’s ensnarement to that of prey in a web. The speaker...