Post on 22-Jun-2020
transcript
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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