"Looking for a Cousin on a Swing" relates an anecdote about a woman's first taste of romantic excitement. As a young child, while sitting on a swing and climbing a tree with her slightly older cousin, this woman felt an intense crush—a sexual awakening of sorts, though she adds that "we were very innocent / about it." Years later, she pursues this same intense emotion in her adult love life, and still "tries to be innocent / about it." But the poem hints that neither the innocence nor the intense feelings of childhood can ever fully be recaptured. "Looking for a Cousin on a Swing" appears in A. K. Ramanujan's first collection of poetry, The Striders (1966).

• Read the full text of “Looking for a Cousin on a Swing”

• “Looking for a Cousin on a Swing” Summary

• “Looking for a Cousin on a Swing” Themes

  • 

    The Intensity of First Love

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-23
  • 

    Innocence, Experience, and Sexual Awakening

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-23

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Looking for a Cousin on a Swing”

  • Lines 1-4

    When she was ...
    ... himself against her;

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  • Lines 5-8

    with every lunge ...
    ... of her feeling;

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  • Lines 9-14

    and afterwards ...
    ... about it.

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  • Lines 15-18

    Now she looks ...
    ... about it

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  • Lines 19-23

    not only on ...
    ... someone suddenly sneezed.

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

• “Looking for a Cousin on a Swing” Symbols

  • 

    The Swing

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-8: “When she was four or five / she sat on a village swing / and her cousin, six or seven, / sat himself against her; / with every lunge of the swing / she felt him / in the lunging pits / of her feeling;”
    • Lines 15-16: “Now she looks for the swing / in cities with fifteen suburbs”
  • 

    The Tree/The Figs

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Lines 10-12: “we climbed a tree, she said, / not very tall, but full of leaves / like those of a fig tree,”
    • Lines 19-23: “not only on the crotch of a tree / that looked as if it would burst / under every leaf / into a brood of scarlet figs / if someone suddenly sneezed.”

• “Looking for a Cousin on a Swing” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

  • Metaphor

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

    Where metaphor appears in the poem:

    • Lines 5-8: “with every lunge of the swing / she felt him / in the lunging pits / of her feeling;”
    • Lines 15-18: “Now she looks for the swing / in cities with fifteen suburbs / and tries to be innocent / about it”

  • Simile

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

    Where simile appears in the poem:

    • Lines 11-12: “not very tall, but full of leaves / like those of a fig tree,”
    • Lines 19-23: “not only on the crotch of a tree / that looked as if it would burst / under every leaf / into a brood of scarlet figs / if someone suddenly sneezed.”

  • Imagery

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

    Where imagery appears in the poem:

    • Lines 4-8: “sat himself against her; / with every lunge of the swing / she felt him / in the lunging pits / of her feeling;”
    • Lines 19-23: “not only on the crotch of a tree / that looked as if it would burst / under every leaf / into a brood of scarlet figs / if someone suddenly sneezed.”

  • Alliteration

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

    Where alliteration appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “four,” “five”
    • Line 2: “sat,” “swing”
    • Line 3: “six,” “seven”
    • Line 4: “sat,” “himself,” “her”
    • Line 10: “tree”
    • Line 11: “tall,” “full,” “leaves”
    • Line 12: “like,” “fig”
    • Line 15: “swing”
    • Line 16: “cities,” “suburbs”
    • Line 20: “looked,” “burst”
    • Line 21: “leaf”
    • Line 22: “brood,” “scarlet”
    • Line 23: “someone suddenly sneezed”

  • Enjambment

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

    Where enjambment appears in the poem:

    • Lines 2-3: “swing / and”
    • Lines 6-7: “him / in”
    • Lines 7-8: “pits / of”
    • Lines 9-10: “afterwards / we”
    • Lines 11-12: “leaves / like”
    • Lines 13-14: “innocent / about”
    • Lines 15-16: “swing / in”
    • Lines 16-17: “suburbs / and”
    • Lines 17-18: “innocent / about”
    • Lines 19-20: “tree / that”
    • Lines 20-21: “burst / under”
    • Lines 21-22: “leaf / into”
    • Lines 22-23: “figs / if”

  • Juxtaposition

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

    Where juxtaposition appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-10
    • Lines 13-18

• “Looking for a Cousin on a Swing” Vocabulary

  Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

  • Village swing
  • Lunge/Lunging pits
  • Crotch of a tree
  • Brood
  • (Location in poem: Lines 1-2: “When she was four or five / she sat on a village swing”)

• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Looking for a Cousin on a Swing”

  • Form

  • Meter

  • Rhyme Scheme

• “Looking for a Cousin on a Swing” Speaker

• “Looking for a Cousin on a Swing” Setting

• Literary and Historical Context of “Looking for a Cousin on a Swing”

• More “Looking for a Cousin on a Swing” Resources

  • External Resources

    • The Poet's Life and Work — Read a short biography of A. K. Ramanujan at the Poetry Foundation.

    • The Poet as Scholar — Watch Ramanujan deliver a 1988 speech for a workshop on folklore studies.

    • "Asian American Voices in Poetry" — Read Ramanujan's work as part of Poetry Foundation's "collection of poets and articles exploring Asian American culture." 

    • Swings in History — A brief history of swings across cultures, including in painting and sculpture.

    • More About the Author — Biographical information on Ramanujan, courtesy of the University of Chicago Library.

Cite This Page