Winter Swans

Nature, resolution, conflict

Key themes

• A couple have issues communicating

• They are presented as emotionally as the poem opens

• Metaphor of the lake symbolises couples problems

• Swans are a symbol of unity and bring the couple together

Key synopsis

Vague, separated from the context

Past tense narrative confuses the reader as not set in any clear time frame

Setting (2)

• Focuses on weather and uses pathetic fallacy to mirror the couples relationship

• Personification of the clouds- ‘had given their all’

• Creates a foreboding atmosphere

Opening (3)

* Inconsistent form- no rhyme scheme commentary on unpredictable flexible nature of relationships

Form

• Symmetry and pairings into format- enjambment reflects fluidity of conversation

• Final couplet- doesn’t rhyme but together

• Caesura- reflects break in relationship

Structure (3)

• Weather

• Natural imagery

• Swans

• Semantic field of pairings

Language (4)

‘Two days of rain’

Weather

‘The clouds had given their all’ ‘waterlogged earth//gulping for breath’

Natural imagery

‘Mate for life’

Swans

‘Two days’ ‘halved’ ‘pair of wings’

Semantic field of pairings

When we two parted

Comparisons