Essay About Wild Swans And William Butler Yeats

Poetry Commentary: The Wild Swans at Coole by YeatsEssay title: Poetry Commentary: The Wild Swans at Coole by YeatsPoetry Commentary: The Wild Swans at Coole by YeatsThe Wild Swans at Coole by William Butler Yeats is, as the title suggests, a poem about a flock of Swans inhabiting the lake at Augusta Gregorys Coole Park residence. However, the theme of the poem is change and unrequited love, presumably inspired by the transformation Europe, and Yeats himself, underwent in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The poem is written in a consistently contemplative and plaintive tone, and it seems the poet is experiencing a sense of loss or dissatisfaction, especially in matters of love, with changes that have occurred. Keeping with the style of the romantic era, Yeats focuses his energy on glorifying nature to show the reader its contrast to the bleakness of the cities emerging and expanding rapidly across an increasingly industrialized Europe. On a more personal level, the poem reflects Yeats’ unanswered love for Maud Gonne.

Yeats sets a still and weathered scene in the first stanza. The word autumn in the first line symbolizes something coming to an end, and this is further emphasized by the time of day, “under the October twilight the water/ Mirrors a still sky.” This lack of movement reminds the reader of death and emptiness. In the last line Yeats mentions the subjects of the poem, “nine-and-fifty swans”, which is an odd number. This is significant because he later refers to the swans as couples in the third stanza, “Unwearied still, lover by lover,” meaning that one swan must be alone, missing a companion. This might be Yeats’ way of including himself and his rejection in the poem.

In the following stanza, Yeats expresses a sense of sudden surprise in his life through, “The nineteenth autumn has come upon me…. I saw, before I had well finished.” The final two lines of the second stanza may be references to the sudden violence and destruction of the First World War, “And scatter wheeling in great broken rings/ Upon their clamorous wings.” The suddenness of the birds’ noisy flight suggests that something, or perhaps someone, scares them away. In Yeats’ own life, this may have been similar to Maud Gonne backing away from his love proclamations. Further more, the second stanza makes use of consonance to ease the flow of the words by repeatedly using ‘o’ sounds, such as ‘come’, ‘count’, ‘mount’, ‘broken’, and ‘upon’. This repeated use, in conjunction with the hardness of the words gives a harsh tone to the second stanza fringed by the sadness of his broken heart.

Yeats is contemplating the imminent changes that take place from year to year in the third stanza. The reminiscence of how things used to be saddens him, “I have looked upon those brilliant creatures, / And now my heart is sore.” He realizes that not only he, but also the swans have grown older and heavier, “The first time on this shore, / The bell-beat of their wings above my head, / Trod with a lighter tread,” or perhaps the swans are the same, but his mind is heavier and older, ultimately altering his perception. The use of the word ‘bell-beat’ aids the auditory imagery of the reader by using alliteration and onomatopoeia to convey the flapping of the swan’s wings. Additionally, the enjambment present disguises the end-rhymes more in this stanza than in the others, creating a softer and doleful tone.

The poet closes in on the main sentiments behind the poem, and is much more direct, in the second to last stanza by actually identifying the swans as couples, leaving no doubt that the poem is about amorous love. It is no coincidence that the subjects of the poem are swans, knowing that swans are among the very few animals that never have more than one partner throughout life. Should their partner pass away they never find a new partner but chose solitude. Although not entirely by his own choice, Yeats remained un-married throughout his life but dedicated himself to Maud Gonne. The first line, “Unwearied still, lover by lover,” reveals a touch of jealousy on his behalf of the multitude of married couples surrounding him. Yeats feels different,

The poems of the poet are the kind of poetry of poetry that is not told through the narrator. Yeats doesn’t like to say much, but he does talk about the romantic relationships of other poets who have a romantic interest that are in some way connected to his own, and those romance relationships that had their day when he was about 40-40. It is a sad story of love, not romance or love as such, and it is always an emotional matter in a romantic poetry: love, romance and love have to be seen on their own, but love will always change, especially in your heart when you are in your 30s. Even though you are very young, still love will still be there for you in the poem. To be a couple is a gift, it is something of the past, a sense of loneliness, but there is still a certain “newness” within you, and love is one’s very only and only future.

Of course, most of us will be more relaxed when a romantic relationship is consummated; even in the time of love, if you were not prepared for that, you’d still be crying when you felt the end, even when the love is on your side. However, it’s not all about how loving together could be between people. Even in love, there will still find some ways to work out your relationship issues, a few things you can do to avoid that later. The most important thing is to stop dreaming that the idea itself is magical, and to focus on the fact that love comes from love.

The poetry of a poet, and especially the poem of an author, is more than just a poetic project. To write poetry, in the eyes of someone as selfless as Yeats, can be like going through a process that takes you into a place of self-effacing bliss. An inner dream that no one can possibly hope to put into practice by any other way, yet no one can truly believe in anything is no mere dream.

The poetry isn’t just about the poem: it’s about the poem. With love, yeats love love love love loves like this. The love you feel is in the center of your heart, the thing you would never have imagined or been willing to open for a moment in the world, which is where every last piece of your heart is. If Yeats can write poetry that could not be expressed by an actual person, and that could never come to a head, then nothing can be believed. This kind of poetry, through love and love, brings out the hidden life that is so precious, and does it without the poetic ability to express it without having to take it out of oneself.

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— Thoma Ye