H.D. reworks the myth of Leda into a quiet, sensuous scene. A red swan drifts where a slow river meets the tide, surrounded by purple heat, sunbeams, reeds, and golden lilies. The landscape seems half-dreamlike: water and light blur together, and every detail—the swan’s coral feet, the lily’s gold crest—glows with color. The speaker’s attention lingers on texture and movement, creating a mood of warm, almost hypnotic stillness.
The final stanza turns openly tender and erotic, as a “kingly kiss” replaces regret and memory, and the lily rests beneath the swan’s fluttering wings and quivering breast. The myth’s potential violence fades into union; the poem feels less like conquest than a spell of surrender to light, water, and touch.