Poem Analysis 1 - The Wild Swans at Coole

The Wild Swans at Coole by William Butler Yeats

 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 winds 

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?

Poem Analysis - The Wild Swans at Coole by William Butler Yeats

• SUBJECT-MATTER

This poem, by William Butler Yeats, records the poet’s memory; he recalls what he has once seen nineteen years ago. After watching the swans for nineteen autumn, he finds that everything in his life has changed and he has already old while the swans remains the same. They paddle by in the water or fly by in the air in pairs, “lover by lover.” The swans also feel comfortable with the stream albeit it is cold. However, out of the blue, they start spreading away, wheeling in great broken winds upon their riotous wings. He feels sad of the disappearance of the birds as they used to inspire his life.

• THEME

            At first glance the poem may appear to have no serious purpose other than telling us about a flock of swans, but actually the poet expresses his personal feeling that has realized his maturity and dreams about staying young in his heart. This is resembled in the analogy with the swans: “Their hearts have not grown old”. He even compares his life with that swans. In the last stanza, the poet shows that he is frightened about his future because he does not have goal like swans that fly away to the south each year. He also thought that nothing can last long and everything has to go away and die.

• EMOTION

            The poem is sad and melancholic. It seeks not only to re-create the scene for the reader, but to have him feel the reality of life. The poet creates a mood of sadness and tells the reader that he is very sad. Perhaps he wrote the poem during autumn when he felt lonely and unhappy. He writes something about the swans to show that the swans are the opposite side of him and it also shows that how sad he was.

• CRAFTMANSHIP

            The poem has the structure of five stanzas; each stanza consists of six lines. The rhyme scheme for each stanza is same and the rhyme used is a-b-c-b-d-d. This structure of stanza also appropriate with the situation. The language of this stanza is figurative and it is quite hard to understand the literal meaning of this poem. For instance, mirrors a still sky in line four is to describe a scene of the place he watches the swans.

            Throughout the re-creation the poet seeks to involve quite a number of symbols. The first symbol used is “autumn” to indicate the end of his young age. During autumn, the leaves fall ad that incident symbolizes nearly the end of his young age. Then, “dry woodland paths” from the second line means that a lot of routes in the poet’s life have already been forgotten. “October twilight” in third line refers to the end of the poet’s life. Twilight means dusk, that is the end of day and it brings meaning that nearly the end. Besides, there is also personification when the poet gives human qualities to the swans which are passion and conquest. Then, “bell-beat” in the third stanza is an example of onomatopoeia as this describes the sounds of the swans’ wings as they fly away. It also can be alliteration as there is repetition of ‘b’ sound. The repetition of ‘w’ sound in “wonder where they will” also represents alliteration.

            Next, the poet uses swan as the metaphor of himself. In the last line of first stanza, it is stated that there are fifty nine swans which means there must be a swan that does not have partner. So, that particular swan refers to the poet because it is similar to his life that does not have partner as well. The poet also compares the lake to a mirror because it is flat.