Winter Swans Flashcards
“The clouds had given their all -
two days of rain”
Technique: pathetic fallacy
-Rain suggests the couple are not happy.
-Could be metaphorical for two days of arguments and now the couple have stopped fighting.
-Rain symbolic of their tears.
Reader feels a sense of tension as a result of this.
“the waterlogged earth
gulping for breath at our feet”
Technique: personification
-Earth personified to imitate action of crying.
-Shows the struggle in relationship; gulping.
Readers can see that there is a problem between couple.
“we skirted the lake, silent and apart”
Technique: caesura
-“silent” means no communication.
-“apart” shows the distance both physically and emotionally.
Reader sees lack of communication - negative impact on relationship.
“the swans came and stopped us”
Technique: personification
-Speaker interprets their obstruction as a natural intervention that is initiating a resolution to their problems.
Reader sees this as a turning point in the poem.
“with a show of tipping in unison.”
Technique: symbolism
-Togetherness of swans is symbolic of their unity.
-This contrasts to the couple’s distance.
Reader feels anticipation to see if they will resolve their problems.
“they halved themselves in the dark water”
Technique: symbolism
- See themselves in the swans.
- “dark water” represents a rough patch in relationship.
“icebergs of white feather, paused before returning again”
Technique: metaphor
- Iceberg is an obstacle and this mirrors the obstacles the couple need to overcome to improve relationship.
- “returning” suggests a reconciliation.
“like boats righting in rough weather”
Technique: simile
- Compares the swans to boats.
- Rough weather is metaphorical for a problem in the relationship, and the boats stand for the couple.
- Unity of swans bring them back together.
- “righting” is to make up/reconcile.
” ‘They mate for life’ you said as they left,
porcelain over the stilling water.”
Technique: reported speech
-Shows communication; makes room for progress.
-Reminds them of natural phenomenon of relationships.
Reader sees the couple starting to make an effort to strengthen their relationship.
“I noticed our hands, that had, somehow,
swum the distance between us”
Technique: metaphor
-Their hands joining bridges the distance between them both emotionally and physically.
-They are now holding hands; sign of intimacy.
To the reader the situation seems propitious.
“like a pair of wings settling after flight”
Technique: simile
-“pair” - reference to two; coming together as couple.
-“settling” - relationship no longer on edge.
-“flight” represents time they were apart/fighting.
Reader witnesses the couples’ reconciliation.
Structure and last stanza
All stanzas are in tercets, but last stanza is in a couplet; symbolic of the reconciliation.
Rhyme scheme
In free verse; no rhyme scheme.
