The Wild Swans at Coole
By W. B. Yeats
✍️ Author Introduction – W.B. Yeats
W. B. Yeats (1865–1939) was one of the greatest Irish poets and a leading figure of modern literature. He was deeply involved in the Irish Literary Revival and won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1923. His poetry often explores themes of love, nature, time, aging, beauty, and Irish identity. His later poems reflect personal disappointment and the passage of time.
ð About the Poem
The Wild Swans at Coole was written in 1916 and published in 1917. The poem reflects Yeats’ feelings of aging, loneliness, and lost love, especially connected to his unfulfilled love for Maud Gonne. The swans symbolize beauty, youth, and permanence, while the poet feels the sadness of growing older.
ð Full Poem Text (Public Domain)
The trees are in their autumn beauty,
The woodland paths are dry,
Under the October twilight the water
Mirrors a still sky;
Upon the brimming water among the stones
Are nine-and-fifty swans.
The nineteenth autumn has come upon me
Since I first made my count;
I saw, before I had well finished,
All suddenly mount
And scatter wheeling in great broken rings
Upon their clamorous wings.
I have looked upon those brilliant creatures,
And now my heart is sore.
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.
Unwearied still, lover by lover,
They paddle in the cold
Companionable streams or climb the air;
Their hearts have not grown old;
Passion or conquest, wander where they will,
Attend upon them still.
But now they drift on the still water,
Mysterious, beautiful;
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?
ð Line-by-Line Analysis (Simple Explanation)
Stanza 1
The poet describes an autumn scene. The trees are beautiful, and the sky is calm. Fifty-nine swans float on the lake. Nature is peaceful and still.
Stanza 2
Nineteen years have passed since he first counted the swans. Suddenly, they rise into the air. Their movement is energetic and lively.
Stanza 3
The poet feels sad (“my heart is sore”). He remembers when he was younger and happier. The swans’ wings once sounded exciting to him, and he walked lightly with joy.
Stanza 4
The swans remain youthful and energetic. They move in pairs (symbol of love). Their hearts have not grown old. They still have passion and strength.
Stanza 5
The swans float peacefully now. The poet wonders where they will go in the future. He fears waking one day to find them gone — symbolizing loss, change, and mortality.
ðŊ Major Themes
Beauty of Nature
ð Important Symbols
ðĶĒ The Swans
Symbol of youth, beauty, energy, love, and permanence.
ð Autumn
Symbol of aging and the later stage of life.
ð Twilight
Symbol of ending, transition, and uncertainty.
ð The Poet’s “Sore Heart”
Symbol of emotional pain and lost youth.
ð MCQs from the Poem
1. How many swans are counted in the poem?
a) Fifty-eight
b) Fifty-nine ✔
c) Sixty
d) Sixty-one
2. How many years have passed since the poet first counted them?
a) 10
b) 15
c) 19 ✔
d) 20
3. What season is described in the first stanza?
a) Spring
b) Summer
c) Autumn ✔
d) Winter
4. What do the swans symbolize?
a) Death
b) War
c) Youth and beauty ✔
d) Wealth
5. What is the poet afraid of?
a) Storm
b) War
c) Swans flying away ✔
d) Darkness
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