Class 12 English Notes Poetry 6 (The Wild Swans at Coole) – Kaliedoscope Book

Alright class, let's delve into William Butler Yeats' poignant poem, 'The Wild Swans at Coole'. This is a significant piece, often studied for its lyrical beauty and profound themes, making it important for your exam preparation.

Poem: The Wild Swans at Coole
Poet: William Butler Yeats (1865-1939) - An Irish poet, dramatist, and one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1923.

Context:

• Setting: Coole Park, the estate of Lady Augusta Gregory, a close friend and patron of Yeats, in County Galway, Ireland. Yeats spent many summers there.
• Time: The poem was written around 1916-17 and published in the collection The Wild Swans at Coole (1919). This was a period of personal turmoil for Yeats (aging, unrequited love for Maud Gonne, her daughter Iseult Gonne also rejecting his proposal) and political upheaval in Ireland (Easter Rising of 1916).
• Personal Significance: The poem reflects Yeats's sense of aging, loss, and the contrast between the seemingly unchanging natural world and his own transient, sorrowful human experience.

Detailed Summary:

• Stanza 1: The speaker observes the autumn scene at Coole Park. The trees are beautiful, the paths are dry, and the water reflects a still sky. He sees fifty-nine swans swimming in the twilight.
• Stanza 2: The speaker recalls that it has been nineteen years ("nineteen autumns") since he first counted the swans here. He remembers that before he could finish counting them properly, they suddenly scattered, wheeling in noisy, broken circles ("great broken rings / Upon their clamorous wings").
• Stanza 3: The speaker looks at the swans now, noting their brilliance and beauty. His heart feels sore ("I have looked upon those brilliant creatures, / And now my heart is sore"). He reflects that everything has changed for him since he first heard the swans' wings beating like bells above his head, treading the water with a lighter step ("trod with a lighter tread").
• Stanza 4: The swans remain passionate, youthful, and free ("Unwearied still, lover by lover, / They paddle in the cold / Companionable streams or climb the air"). Their hearts haven't grown old ("Their hearts have not grown old"). They continue their lives filled with desire and movement ("Passion or conquest, wander where they will, / Attend upon them still").
• Stanza 5: The speaker contrasts his own state with the swans'. They are beautiful and mysterious. He wonders where they will build their nests and delight other men's eyes when he eventually wakes up one day to find they have flown away ("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?"). This reflects his anxiety about his own mortality and the departure of beauty and inspiration from his life.

Major Themes:

1. The Passage of Time and Aging: This is central. The nineteen years that have passed weigh heavily on the speaker. He contrasts his own aging ("All’s changed", "trod with a lighter tread") with the seemingly timeless nature of the swans.
2. Permanence vs. Transience: The swans symbolize permanence, cyclical nature, and enduring passion, while the speaker represents the transience and decay inherent in human life. Nature seems constant, while human experience is marked by change and loss.
3. Unrequited Love and Heartbreak: Though not explicitly stated, the "sore heart" and melancholy tone are often linked to Yeats's lifelong, unfulfilled love for Maud Gonne. The swans, paired "lover by lover," contrast sharply with his own loneliness.
4. Beauty and Sorrow: The poem juxtaposes the immense beauty of the natural scene and the swans with the speaker's deep inner sorrow and sense of loss. Beauty becomes a source of pain because it reminds him of what he has lost or never attained.
5. Change and Loss: The speaker is acutely aware of the changes within himself and his life over the nineteen years, contrasting with the apparent lack of change in the swans' behaviour and vitality. The final stanza expresses anxiety about future loss – the potential departure of the swans, symbolizing the departure of beauty or inspiration.

Literary Devices:

• Symbolism:
  • Swans: Represent enduring beauty, freedom, passion, loyalty (lover by lover), timelessness, the ideal, and perhaps unattainable inspiration. Their wildness contrasts with the speaker's weariness.
  • Autumn: A traditional symbol of decay, aging, and the later stages of life, reflecting the speaker's mood and stage of life.
  • Water: Represents reflection, the passage of time, and the subconscious.
  • Number (59): An odd number, perhaps subtly suggesting incompleteness or the lack of a partner, contrasting with the paired swans.
• Imagery:
  • Visual: "autumn beauty," "dry woodland paths," "water / Mirrors a still sky," "brilliant creatures," swans paddling or climbing the air.
  • Auditory: "clamorous wings," "bell-beat of their wings."
• Contrast: A key technique used throughout:
  • Past vs. Present (Speaker's first visit vs. now)
  • Poet vs. Swans (Aging/Sorrowful vs. Youthful/Passionate)
  • Stillness vs. Movement (Still sky vs. Flying swans)
• Tone: Predominantly melancholic, reflective, nostalgic, and weary.
• Structure and Form: Five stanzas, each with six lines (sestet). Regular ABCBDD rhyme scheme. Mostly iambic meter (tetrameter and trimeter), giving it a song-like, lyrical quality.
• Alliteration: "still sky," "cold / Companionable," "lover by lover."
• Assonance: "Upon their clamorous wings" (uh sound).

Key Lines for Exam Focus:

• "The trees are in their autumn beauty," - Establishes setting and mood.
• "Upon the brimming water among the stones / Are nine-and-fifty swans." - Specific detail, number potentially symbolic.
• "The nineteenth autumn has come upon me / Since I first made my count;" - Explicit mention of time passed.
• "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." - Central contrast between past self and present self.
• "And now my heart is sore." - Direct expression of the speaker's emotional pain.
• "Unwearied still, lover by lover," - Highlights the swans' enduring vitality and companionship.
• "Their hearts have not grown old;" - Direct contrast with the speaker's feeling of age.
• "To find they have flown away?" - Expresses fear of future loss and the departure of beauty/inspiration.

Points to Remember for Exams:

• Know the poet (W.B. Yeats) and the setting (Coole Park).
• Understand the central theme: the contrast between the speaker's aging/sorrow and the swans' perceived timelessness/passion.
• Recognize the swans as the primary symbol.
• Be aware of the poem's melancholic and reflective tone.
• Note the significance of the nineteen-year time span.
• The poem reflects personal feelings (aging, loss, perhaps unrequited love) against a backdrop of natural beauty.

Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs):

1. Who is the poet of 'The Wild Swans at Coole'?
   a) John Keats
   b) W.B. Yeats
   c) T.S. Eliot
   d) Percy Bysshe Shelley

2. Where is the setting of the poem 'The Wild Swans at Coole'?
   a) Lake Isle of Innisfree
   b) London
   c) Coole Park
   d) Dublin

3. What season is depicted in the poem?
   a) Spring
   b) Summer
   c) Autumn
   d) Winter

4. How many swans does the speaker count on the water?
   a) Nineteen
   b) Fifty-nine
   c) Nine
   d) An unspecified large number

5. How many years have passed since the speaker first counted the swans?
   a) Nine
   b) Fifty-nine
   c) Nineteen
   d) Twenty

6. What feeling does the speaker express upon seeing the swans in the present?
   a) Joy and excitement
   b) Anger and frustration
   c) Indifference
   d) Soreness of heart and sadness

7. What do the swans primarily symbolize in the poem?
   a) Danger and chaos
   b) Fleeting beauty and sorrow
   c) Enduring passion, freedom, and timelessness
   d) Domesticity and peace

8. Which phrase best describes the change the speaker feels in himself compared to his first visit?
   a) He feels younger and more energetic.
   b) He feels wiser and content.
   c) He feels everything has changed, and he "trod with a lighter tread" back then.
   d) He feels no different than before.

9. What characteristic is attributed to the swans' hearts in stanza 4?
   a) They have grown weary.
   b) They have not grown old.
   c) They are cold and companionable.
   d) They are broken like rings.

10. What fear does the speaker express in the final stanza?
    a) Fear of the swans attacking him.
    b) Fear that the lake will dry up.
    c) Fear that he will forget the swans' beauty.
    d) Fear that he will awake one day to find the swans have flown away.

Answer Key for MCQs:

1. b) W.B. Yeats
2. c) Coole Park
3. c) Autumn
4. b) Fifty-nine
5. c) Nineteen
6. d) Soreness of heart and sadness
7. c) Enduring passion, freedom, and timelessness
8. c) He feels everything has changed, and he "trod with a lighter tread" back then.
9. b) They have not grown old.
10. d) Fear that he will awake one day to find the swans have flown away.

Study these notes carefully, focusing on the themes and symbolism. Understanding the contrast Yeats draws between himself and the swans is key. Good luck with your preparation!