An Analysis of Blake’s The Wild Swans at Coole Essay

An Analysis of Blake’s The Wild Swans at Coole The Wild Swans at Coole is a poem that deals with the aging process of William Butler Yeats. It is a deeply personal poem that explores the cycle of life through nature. The poem is set in Coole Park in autumn, which is located on Lady Gregory’s estate. The poet is on or near the shore of a large pond, and is observing the swans. It has been nineteen years since the first time he came to this place, and it is on this visit that he begins to realize that he is getting older. The poet parallels nature in the poem, as it represents his present state while, in the poem, there is a contrast between the poet and the swan because the swan is used as a metaphor for the poet’s youth.†¦show more content†¦The twilight introduced in line three invokes a sense of calm to the poem, but a probable uneasiness in the poet. Twilight comes in-between day and night and in a sense, the poet has come upon the twilight of his life, and is waiting for night (death) to come. The sun, which has set, represents his youth, and it can be assumed that the poet is feeling as if the best times of his life have passed him by, and all that is left to do now is to wait for death. This idea is most visible when the poet writes about the swans. The envy towards the swan’s vitality is apparent in the fourth stanza when the poet tells that Their hearts have not grown old(22) which contrasts the poet’s old age. Unlike the swans that appear to be eternal, the poet realizes that he is not and that his end is near. The use of the word mirror in line four brings together the water and the sky, which will prove to be key when the swans are introduced. The swans can paddle in the cold/ Companionable streams or climb the air. (lines 20-21) The swans are beings of both the water and the sky: They have no limits. In the second stanza the poet tells how it has been nineteen years since he first visited Coole Park. All at once the swans All suddenly mount (line 10) and leave rings in the water. These rings are important because they symbolize the rings found in the trunk of