The Wild Swans at Coole by William Butler Yeats

Text:

THE trees are in their autumn beauty,
The woodland paths are dry,
Under the October twilight the water
Mirrors a still sky;
Upon the brimming water among the stones
Are nine-and-fifty Swans.

The nineteenth autumn has come upon me
Since I first made my count;
I saw, before I had well finished,
All suddenly mount
And scatter wheeling in great broken rings
Upon their clamorous wings.

I have looked upon those brilliant creatures,
And now my heart is sore.
All's changed since I, hearing at twilight,
The first time on this shore,
The bell-beat of their wings above my head,
Trod with a lighter tread.

Unwearied still, lover by lover,
They paddle in the cold
Companionable streams or climb the air;
Their hearts have not grown old;
Passion or conquest, wander where they will,
Attend upon them still.

But now they drift on the still water,
Mysterious, beautiful;
Among what rushes will they build,
By what lake's edge or pool
Delight men's eyes when I awake some day
To find they have flown away?

Initial Reaction:

I believe the poem follows a man as he looks at and counts swans in a lake. The narrator has gone to the lake for the past “nineteen autumns” to look at the swans, suggesting that he was deeply captivated by the birds. I believe that seeing the swans and counting them gave the narrator great peace of mind and joy. However, once the swans flew away, I believe the narrator felt let down and melancholy.

Paraphrase:

The trees have the beauty of fall,
The paths of the woods are dry,
Under the twilight of October the water
Reflects the still sky;
And on the water among the stones Upon
Are fifty-nine swans.

This is the nineteenth autumn that has come to me
Since I started counting;
But before I had finished,
All suddenly started flying
And breaking into great broken rings
Upon their clamorous wings.

I have looked at those amazing creatures,
And now it hurts my heart.
Everything has changed since I heard at twilight,
For the first time on this shore,
The beating of the swans’ wings above my head,
Walking with a light tread.

Unchanging still, lover by lover,
They paddle through the cold
Through the streams or in the air;
Their hearts have never aged;
Excitement or conquest, will wander where they will,
Are still within the swans.

But now they are drifting on the water,
Mysterious, beautiful;
Where will they build their nests,
By what lake shore or pool
Delight men’s eyes to see while I awake someday Delight
To find the swans have flown away?

SWIFTT:

SW: The poem is composed of five stanzas, each with six lines. The poem is written in iambic, and it has a rhyme scheme of abcbdd. In addition, the author uses words like “October twilight,” “brilliant,” and “beautiful” to depict the mysterious and alluring nature of the swans.

I: The author uses imagery to paint a picture of a lake filled with beautiful swans. Throughout the poem, the readers can see the imagery of the lake through lines like “Upon the brimming water,” “the still water,” and “lake's edge or pool.” Further, readers can see imagery of the swans through lines like “nine-and-fifty Swans” and “those brilliant creatures.”

F: The poem is an extended metaphor for a yearning for things of the past and a disdain for change. For example, in the poem the author stated he had counted the swans for nineteen years, and the swans were “Unwearied still, lover by lover” and “Their hearts [had] not grown old.” However, on the other hand, the author mourned the fact that since the first time he had counted the swans “All's changed” in his own life.

T: The tone is contemplative and tranquil, as the author thought of how his own life had changed over the years, but the swans still remained “unwearied.” Further, the tranquil tone of the poem can be seen through lines like “Upon the brimming water among the stones” and “Trod with a lighter tread.”

T: The theme of the story is that no matter how hard one tries to hold on to things of the past, time will always continue to pass, and things will always keep changing. The swans in the poem were almost like a souvenir or reminder of the past, the way they never changed and always held on to their “Passion or conquest.” However, the narrator was not unchanging like the swans, but instead he mourned the fact that “All's changed” since he counted the swans for the first time.

Conclusion:

After analyzing the poem, I believe it depicts the narrator mourning the changes in his life. While the narrator looked at the swans and thought that even after nineteen years, the swans remained “Unwearied still” and still full of “Passion or conquest,” the narrator felt like “All's changed” in his life since the first time he counted the swans. The fact that nothing was the same as it was nineteen years ago made the narrator’s “heart…sore.” After all the years, the swans served as a symbol of the past and a lack of change, which contrasted the extreme changes that the narrator felt his own life had gone through.