Leda's Depiction Of Rape For The Cloths Of Heaven

The language of the second stanza poses more difficult problems for the reader. Leda’s ‘vague fingers’ (5) and ‘loosening thighs’ (6) suggest that, although she is hurt and helpless, there is a brief moment of mutual sexual pleasure. Cullingford argues that ‘male representations of rape as pleasurable for women are extremely dangerous’ but I would say that the implication is equally as dangerous for men and women alike. For men, it could be said that Leda’s reaction justifies Jove imposing himself on her. For women, it could be said that it is acceptable for men to impose themselves because of that brief moment of sexual gratification.
The gender issues of the poem seems to culminate in the last two lines: ‘Did she put on his knowledge with his power / Before the indifferent beak could let her drop?’ (13-14) Is the speaker suggesting that there is a power shift between the two just after the ‘shudder in his loins’ (9)? Is Leda empowered by the rape, as she gains insight into future events which will be the
Cullingford ascribes the resurrection of the medieval courtly lyric to Rossetti, by whom Yeats was greatly influenced. The courtly tradition ‘reverses the normal distribution of sexual power’, placing the male at the feet of the female. For example, in ‘He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven’, the ‘poor’ (6) poet cannot afford ‘the heavens’ embroidered cloths’ (1) so can only ‘spread’ his dreams under the woman’s feet and begs her to ‘tread softly because you tread on my dreams.’ (8) The woman is placed alongside the gods, presented as being worthy of being a goddess in her own right. She is empowered through her elevation, literally walking over the lover, who is a mere mortal by comparison. Unlike The Wanderings of Oisin, there is a reversal of unrequited love; the woman rejects the man instead of the man rejecting the