The Wild Swans at Coole
The unchanging swans
Read a poem about time and loss.
Looking at those brilliant creatures, the poet's heart is sore. Everything has changed since that first evening, when he heard the bell-beat of their wings over his head and walked with a lighter step.
The swans, 'unwearied still', paddle in the cold water or fly up into the air, lover by lover, in pairs. Their hearts have not grown old.
Passion and conquest still go with them wherever they wander.
Now they float on the still water, mysterious and beautiful.
He wonders: among what rushes will they build, by what lake or pool will they delight other men's eyes, when he wakes some day to find they have flown away? The swans seem to stay ever young; the poet does not.
Why is his heart sore? The poem does not say directly, but the contrast tells us. Nineteen years ago he walked with a lighter step; now he feels old and tired. The swans, still in pairs, stand for youth, love and the lasting beauty of nature, while human life keeps changing and losing things. The poem is full of nostalgia: a longing for the past.
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