Leda and the Swan

William Butler Yeats (1865-1939) wrote in the same era as most of the poems I have been posting, but he was Irish rather than American. Brilliant use of language. This is my favourite of his; I was reminded of it because I watched In Search of Troy yesterday - not that the TV show mentioned Leda and the swan. The swan was the god Zeus, who took that form to rape the human queen Leda of Sparta, thus conceiving Helen of Troy.

Leda and the Swan

A sudden blow: the great wings beating still
Above the staggering girl, her thighs caressed
By the dark webs, her nape caught in his bill,
He holds her helpless breast upon his breast.

How can those terrified vague fingers push
The feathered glory from her loosening thighs?
And how can body, laid in that white rush,
But feel the strange heart beating where it lies?

A shudder in the loins engenders there
The broken wall, the burning roof and tower
And Agamemnon dead.

Being so caught up,

So mastered by the brute blood of the air,
Did she put on his knowledge with his power
Before the indifferent beak could let her drop?

Torchwood: Trivia Quiz Answers...

Two days ago, on torch_wood and my own LJ, I posted a Torchwood Trivia Quiz, and promised a prize to the winner.

As it happens, we have two winners - two fans got all the 24 answers spot on. Congratulations to sevendayloan and to hezmagirl, who have covered themselves in glory in a feat of memory worthy of Ianto himself. I don't think I could have got them all right, if I hadn't designed the questions.

The prize for sevendayloan and hezmagirl, if they choose to accept it, is a short piece of Torchwood fanfic written by me to their specifications.

Here are the questions ( with the answers... )

Writer's Block: Confidences

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This depends on the problem. I'd say ninety per cent of the time, the answer is "friends", though it may be different friends for different problems.

I wouldn't discuss problems with strangers. Sometimes there's a professional who fits the bill - for example, discussing medical problems with my doctor. She isn't exactly a personal friend, but she isn't a stranger, either.

FIC: Torchwood (drabble) - Undecided

Title: Undecided
Author: fajrdrako
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Jack, Gwen
Challenge: tw100, challenge: poetry
Rating: G
Disclaimer: Not mine, no claims, all property of the BBC.
Notes: Cross-posted to my lj, and to tw100.

( Undecided )