“Winter Swans” Introduction

• Read the full text of “Winter Swans”

“Winter Swans” Summary

“Winter Swans” Themes

• 

  Love and Partnership

  Where this theme appears in the poem:

  • Lines 1-3
  • Lines 4-6
  • Lines 6-8
  • Lines 9-12
  • Line 13
  • Line 14
  • Lines 14-20
• 

  Humanity and Nature

  Where this theme appears in the poem:

  • Lines 1-3
  • Lines 4-12
  • Lines 13-14
  • Lines 16-20

Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Winter Swans”

• Lines 1-5

  The clouds had ...
  ... at our feet

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 6-8

  as we skirted ...
  ... tipping in unison.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 9-12

  As if rolling ...
  ... in rough weather.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 13-14

  'They mate for ...
  ... the stilling water.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 14-18

  I didn't reply ...
  ... distance between us

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 19-20

  and folded, one ...
  ... settling after flight.

  

  

  

  

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“Winter Swans” Symbols

• 

  The Swans

  Where this symbol appears in the poem:

  • Lines 8-14: “with a show of tipping in unison. / As if rolling weights down their bodies to their heads / they halved themselves in the dark water, / icebergs of white feather, paused before returning again / like boats righting in rough weather. / 'They mate for life' you said as they left, / porcelain over the stilling water.”
  • Line 20: “like a pair of wings settling after flight.”

“Winter Swans” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

• Alliteration

  

  

  

  

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  Where alliteration appears in the poem:

  • Line 3: “w,” “w,” “w”
  • Line 4: “w”
  • Line 5: “f,” “f”
  • Line 6: “s,” “s”
  • Line 7: “s,” “s”
  • Line 9: “h”
  • Line 10: “h,” “w”
  • Line 11: “w,” “r”
  • Line 12: “r,” “r”
  • Line 13: “l,” “l”
  • Line 16: “s,” “s,” “s”
  • Line 17: “h,” “h,” “s”
  • Line 18: “s”

• Assonance

  

  

  

  

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  Where assonance appears in the poem:

  • Line 2: “a,” “a,” “ea”
  • Line 3: “i,” “i”
  • Line 4: “a,” “o”
  • Line 5: “ee”
  • Line 6: “e”
  • Line 7: “a,” “o”
  • Line 8: “i,” “i,” “i,” “i”
  • Line 9: “i”
  • Line 11: “i,” “i”
  • Line 12: “i,” “i”
  • Line 13: “e,” “a”
  • Line 15: “o,” “ou,” “oo”
  • Line 16: “a,” “a”
  • Line 17: “a,” “a,” “a,” “o”
  • Line 18: “u,” “u”
  • Line 19: “o,” “o,” “o,” “o”

• Caesura

  

  

  

  

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  Where caesura appears in the poem:

  • Line 6: “ lake, silent”
  • Line 11: “feather, paused”
  • Line 14: “water. I”
  • Line 17: “hands, that had, somehow”
  • Line 19: “folded, one”

• Enjambment

  

  

  

  

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  Where enjambment appears in the poem:

  • Line 2: “break”
  • Line 3: “in”
  • Line 4: “earth”
  • Line 5: “gulping,” “feet”
  • Line 6: “as”
  • Line 7: “us”
  • Line 8: “with”
  • Line 9: “heads”
  • Line 10: “they”
  • Line 11: “again”
  • Line 12: “like”
  • Line 14: “reply”
  • Line 15: “but”
  • Line 18: “us”
  • Line 19: “and”

• Metaphor

  

  

  

  

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  Where metaphor appears in the poem:

  • Lines 4-5: “the waterlogged earth / gulping for breath at our feet”
  • Lines 10-11: “they halved themselves in the dark water, / icebergs of white feather”
  • Line 14: “porcelain over the stilling water”
  • Lines 17-18: “our hands, that had, somehow, / swum the distance between us”

• Pathetic Fallacy

  

  

  

  

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  Where pathetic fallacy appears in the poem:

  • Lines 1-6: “The clouds had given their all - / two days of rain and then a break / in which we walked, / the waterlogged earth / gulping for breath at our feet / as we skirted the lake”
  • Line 14: “stilling water”
  • Line 15: “the afternoon light”

• Personification

  

  

  

  

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  Where personification appears in the poem:

  • Line 1: “The clouds had given their all -”
  • Lines 4-5: “the waterlogged earth / gulping for breath at our feet”
  • Lines 7-8: “the swans came and stopped us / with a show of tipping in unison.”
  • Lines 17-18: “hands, that had, somehow, / swum the distance between us”

• Sibilance

  

  

  

  

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  Where sibilance appears in the poem:

  • Line 6: “s,” “s,” “s”
  • Line 7: “s,” “s,” “s,” “s”
  • Line 8: “sh,” “s”
  • Line 13: “s”
  • Line 14: “c,” “s”
  • Line 16: “s,” “s,” “s,” “sh,” “s”
  • Line 17: “c,” “s,” “s”
  • Line 18: “s,” “s,” “c,” “s”

• Simile

  

  

  

  

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  Where simile appears in the poem:

  • Lines 9-10: “As if rolling weights down their bodies to their heads / they halved themselves in the dark water,”
  • Line 12: “like boats righting in rough weather.”
  • Line 20: “like a pair of wings settling after flight.”

“Winter Swans” 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.

• Waterlogged
• Skirted
• Tipping
• Righting
• Porcelain
• Stilling
• Shingle

• (Location in poem: Line 4: “waterlogged”)

Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Winter Swans”

• Form

• Meter

• Rhyme Scheme

“Winter Swans” Speaker

“Winter Swans” Setting

Literary and Historical Context of “Winter Swans”

More “Winter Swans” Resources

• External Resources

  • An Interview with Owen Sheers — Owen Sheers answers question in a piece produced by the Welsh Joint Education Committee.  

  • "The Wild Swans at Coole," by W.B. Yeats — A poem that features swans by one of the 20th century's most famous Irish poets, William Butler Yeats.  

  • More Poems by Sheers — A valuable resource containing other poems by Sheers—and recordings.  

  • Swans Themselves — A BBC article that looks at the history—and some of the myths—relating to swans.  

  • "Why The Swan," by Andrew Lambeth — Another contemporary poem in which swans play an important role.  

• LitCharts on Other Poems by Owen Sheers

  • Mametz Wood