(1) Contrast H. D.’s “Leda” with William Butler Yeats’s “Leda and the Swan.” Note images of dominance and fruition, which preface the birth of Helen of Troy, a dominant subject of H. D.’s poetry.
(2) Summarize H. D.’s concept of infectious ecstasy and fulfillment in The Walls Do Not Fall, “Pear Tree,” “Sea Poppies,” and “Heat.”
(3) Characterize the longing for personal and artistic freedom in H. D.’s “Sheltered Garden” and similar works by Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton.
(4) Discuss H. D.’s view of World War II in The Walls Do Not Fall. Is the war a major force in the poem? Why or why not? What does the phrase “The walls do not fall” mean?
