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‘WINTER SWANS’ by Owen Sheers

A CRITICAL ANALYSIS

{FACT FILE: COURTESY GOOGLE}

FACT FILE

Owen Sheers is a Welsh poet, author, playwright and TV presenter. He was the

first writer in residence to be appointed by any national rugby union team.

Wikipedia

Born: September 20, 1974 (age 45 years), Suva, Fiji

Spouse: Katherine Sheers

Movies: Resistance, The Gospel of Us, Aberfan: The Green Hollow

Education: King Henry VIII School, Abergavenny, New College

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SWANS IN UNISON

WATERLOGGED EARTH

PORCELAIN

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Q.1 Show your understanding of how the poet has used imagery to bring

out the central theme in the poem. Provide suitable textual evidence in

support of your answer.

Q.2 How does the use of language and structure help to bring out meaning

in the poem, ‘Winter Swans’? Provide suitable textual evidence in support

of your answer.

‘WINTER SWANS’

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, silent and apart,

until the swans came and stopped us

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,

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porcelain over the stilling water. I didn’t reply

but as we moved on through the afternoon light,

slow-stepping in the lake’s shingle and sand,

I noticed our hands, that had, somehow,

swum the distance between us

and folded, one over the other,

like a pair of wings settling after flight.

Structurally, the poem, ‘Winter Swans’ by Owen Sheers is divided into stanzas

in which each stanza is a tercet consisting of 3 Lines except the last stanza

which consists of 2 lines. Right at the start of the poem in Stanza 1, the use of

the first person plural pronoun, “we” and the visual imagery of the poet and

his beloved walking together on a wintry day, overcast with clouds followed by

“two days of rain” and “then a break” creates a dark and somber atmosphere

on a winter day.

In stanza 2 the poem projects a noticeable use of enjambment (found

throughout the poem) and sibilance which provides a graphic visual image

of the ongoing activity of the lovers as they “skirted the lake”, “silent and

apart”. The adjective phrase, “silent and apart” suggests a distancing

between the lovers. The visual image of “the waterlogged earth” that “gulped

for breath” at their “feet” presents a pulsating image in contrast with the

“waterlogged earth”. In a subtle manner the poet suggests the “waterlogged

earth” to be reflective of the strained relationship between the two lovers; just

as the Earth seemed to ‘gulp for breath’ so also did their relationship.

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In stanza 3 the poet captures the moment when the distanced strolling lovers

were “stopped” by the swans which seemed to showcase their togetherness,

“tipping in unison” in contrast with the silence and distance between the lovers.

The poet feels that when the swans move their heads to change shape it feels as

if the ‘weights roll down their bodies to their heads’. The use of consonance in

case of the letter ‘d’ lays emphasis on “rolling down”, enhancing the effect of

the visual image.

In Stanza 4 the effect of enjambment is significant as one stanza runs into the

other which seems to synchronize with the soft, silent floating of the swans on

the “dark water”. The visual image and the metaphor, “icebergs of white

feather” presents how the swans went floating around the surface of the water.

Using a simile, the poet compares them to “boats righting in rough weather.”

which suggests how a boat would sail through “rough weather” which is

symbolic of the relationship undergoing a rough time.

In stanza 5, the poet directly addresses the beloved as he takes into account her

comment about the swans, “they mate for life” which juxtaposes and contrasts

with the distance between the two lovers. The visual image and the metaphor

“porcelain over the stilling water” presents a unique and fascinating image of

the beautiful Swans which the poet refers to as “porcelain over the stilling

water.”

In keeping with his minute observation of the behavior of the swans, in Stanza

6 the poet also makes comments on his own relationship with the beloved. The

use of sibilance conjures the image of the “slow-stepping in the lake’s shingle

and sand” where the couple, without realizing, came to hold their hands, as

they were influenced by the “unison” between the swans. The poet uses

personification and it connotes how the “unison” between the swans helped to

bridge the distance between the two lovers. In a skillful and subtle manner, the

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poet presents a close relationship between nature and man and projects how

humans can learn important lessons about life and relationships from nature.

The concluding lines of the poem in Stanza 7 present a graphic, visual image

of the lovers’ “hands”. The metaphor- “that had, somehow, swum the distance

between” them “and folded, one over the other, like a pair of wings settling

after flight.” projects the coming closer of the lovers and their hands clasping

together, unknowingly. The metaphor, simile and the visual image of the

cuddled-up swans, that had their wings “folded, one over the other” “settling

after flight” lead the poet to use a very imaginative description wherein he

compares the clasping of hands to the cuddled-up swans- “a pair of wings

settling after flight” as they settle and fold their wings after flight.

Very importantly, the poet presents the themes of love, relationships and the

bonding between nature and man. In terms of structure, the poem represents

the use of enjambment which depicts the ever-growing and unstoppable

bonding between man and nature in which nature never stops to teach us as long

as we are willing to learn. Each of the stanzas is a tercet except the last in

which the 2 lines showcase a pair of lines that project the image “of the pair of

wings folded after flight.”

The poem closes on a note of calm content, the lovers having imbibed a lesson

on togetherness from the pair of “icebergs of white feather.”

Mrs. Pushpinder Kaur 07.03.2020