
I suspect that the theme this poem reveals about the present, through the portrayal of the past, deals with the general idea being derived from this poem, rape. In today’s day and age you will hear news reports and stories of rape and how men have this fierce craving for domination. I feel as though Yeats is trying to portray the power that a man may have over a female, especially the physical power, when he uses words like “helpless” and phrases like “her nape caught in his bill”. This resembles the overall weakness possessed by women and the physical strength within men.