Content. Introduction. Chapter. I. Famous Irish Poet

Conclusion
The trails through the woods are dry, and the trees are bursting with autumnal hues. It's October evening, and the serene, still sky above is reflected in Coole Lake. The lake is nearly full, and I can see fifty-nine swans swimming in it. I originally visited this location and counted the swans nineteen years ago. The birds then abruptly soared up above me in enormous broken circles, flapping their noisy wings, before I could count them all. Now that I'm looking at these lovely birds, my heart hurts. Since the first time I heard the swans' wings ringing above my head while standing on the lake's edge at dusk, everything has changed. The swans are still as animated and vibrant as they were then. They soar into the sky or paddle through the chilly, friendly sea in their devoted couples. Their hearts are still immature. They still have the ability to go wherever they want, and their lives are still filled with intense wants. But right now, the swans are far away and gorgeous as they float on the still surface of the lake. Where will they construct their nests in the future? When I wake up one day and discover the swans have left Coole, where will other guys be able to enjoy watching them? The first four lines of the poem set the situation. The speaker describes the environs of Coole (located in Ireland's County Galway) without yet utilizing the first-person pronoun. Trees' leaves are starting to change color, the walkways are drying out, and dusk casts a soft glow on the river. The change from summer to fall, which will afterwards lead to winter, gives the impression that the season is about to change. The speaker is in the fall of his life and concerned that his best days are behind him, which gives a hint of his attitude later in the poem. Similar to this, line 4's reference to the "still[ness] of the sky" anticipates how the speaker's life has come to a point of stasis. Similar to the previous line, the word "Mirrors" in this line implies that the poem is a psychological reckoning in which the speaker seeks to accept where his life is at. All four lines are consonant, and the soft /t/ and /d/ sounds help to depict the delicate elegance of the October scene:
The trees are in their autumn beauty,
The woodland paths are dry,
Under the October twilight the water
Mirrors a still sky;
The scene is set by the alliteration of "still sky," which seems to linger on this /s/ sound and evokes the stillness of Coole's surroundings. The meter of "The Wild Swans at Coole" is best described as regulated but diverse. Iambs, metrical feet with an unstressed-stressed (da DUM) rhythm, are primarily used throughout the poem. This may lend the poem a sense of tired, slow motion that fits with its reflective tone.