The wild Swans at Coole by William Butler Yeats.
The wild Swans at Coole analysis:
Yeats provides a sombre beauty of the lake at coole in
autumn. The trees are in their autumnal beauty. The tracks made by people
walking through the woods are dry. The rosy sky of the twilight is clear and is
reflected in the brimful, calm water of the lake in the wood. Amid the beauty
of the trees, sky, and water, the poet sees fifty nine swans.
Coole park
is situated in Galway, an eastern country of Ireland on the sea. It is a
mountainous village where Yeats revisited after 19 years.
Central Idea:
After
19 years the poet revisited at Coole park in autumn. Trees are leafless. The
lake is full and reflects the clear sky at twilight. There are fifty nine swans
in the water. For the first time when he came here, he was full of vigour and
felt elated.
‘’And now my heart is sore,
All’s changed..’’
But now he is no more young. He overcomes with a
feeling of sadness and lacks the buoyancy of spirit. He feels that a great
change has come upon him during the nineteen years.
‘’My heart is sore’’
The line indicates that the poet has suffered a lot.
The poet feels physical decay and mental depression. His personal experiences
made him sad and unhappy. The experience of Irish freedom, the failure of his
love affair, and the violence in the Eastern Rising in 1916 have made him feel
sore. He is now clutched by the burden of life. On the other hand, Swans
continue to love their counterparts. They will fly to other region and delight
other men.
Swans stand for the permanence quality of nature. They
are the symbol of eternal beauty and liveliness. Their hearts have never grown
old. They represent the eternal passion & conquest.
The poem is all about the contrast between man’s
temporary joy & passion and nature’s permanent beauty. In course of time
the poet has lost his vitality but swans, objects of nature keep delighting men
as it delighted other.
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