The Wild Swans At Coole

Page 1

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?

*59 - one is left out :((

he's not finished his life either

his thoughts are disturbed - now he reflects

his capacity for love is the same

possibilities

desire to live and enjoy life, his capacity for love, his poetic powers/inspiration

A) Imagery

''The trees are in their autumn beauty

The woodland paths are dry,

Under the October twilight the water

Mirrors a still sky'

'Scatter wheeling in great broken rings

Upon their clamorous wings'

B) Ageing

'autumn beauty'

'October twilight'

'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.' (alliteration)

C) Passage of time

'The nineteenth autumn has come upon me

Since I first made my count'

'The trees are in their autumn beauty,

The woodland paths are dry,

Under the October twilight'

'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.'

D) Youth of the swans

'clamorous wings'

'Their hearts have not grown old

Passion or conquest, wander where they will,

Attend upon them still'

'Among what rushes will they build.

By what lake's edge or pool'

'Unwearied still, lover by lover'

E) Freedom of the swans (no constraints of time) --> immortality

'I saw, before I had well finished,

All suddenly mount

And scatter wheeling in great broken rings

Upon their clamorous wings'

'Unwearied still, lover, by lover'

F) Longing for youth

'And now my heart is sore'

'...when I awake some day

To find they have flown away?'

'Among what rushes will they build,

By what lake's edge or pool'

G) Contrast between his youth and his old age

'Trod with a lighter tread'

'Their hearts have not grown old'

H) Immortality of the swans

'Unwearied still, lover by lover'

'Their hearts have not grown old'

'Passion or conquest, wander where they will,

Attend upon them still'

'great broken rings'

I) Love and passion in the swans

'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'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdic4rNp_gY (Embed)

The Wild Swans At Coole

Video