Poem Summary (Swans)

The Wild Swans at Coole

“The Wild Swans at Coole” presents a middle aged man visiting a certain lake during twilight to watch the swans. Having Ben the “nineteenth autum”(7) to be visiting, he watched “nine and fifty”(6) swans play with the surface of the lake. He “looked upon those brilliant creatures”(13) while being heartbroken with a sore heart. The swans continue to innocently “wander where they will”(23) with their lovers by their side. The adult immerses himself in these “mysterious, beautiful”(26) birds. Lastly, the man wonders if when he “awake[s] some day”(29) if those birds will have flown away.