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The trees are in their autumn beauty,
The woodland paths are dry,
Under the October twilight the water
Mirrors a still sky;
Upon the brimming water among the stones
Are nine-and-fifty Swans.
The nineteenth autumn has come upon me
Since I first made my count;
I saw, before I had well finished,
All suddenly mount
And scatter wheeling in great broken rings
Upon their clamorous wings.
I have looked upon those brilliant creatures,
And now my heart is sore.
All's changed since I, hearing at twilight,
The first time on this shore,
The bell-beat of their wings above my head,
Trod with a lighter tread.
Unwearied still, lover by lover,
They paddle in the cold
Companionable streams or climb the air;
Their hearts have not grown old;
Passion or conquest, wander where they will,
Attend upon them still.
But now they drift on the still water,
Mysterious, beautiful;
Among what rushes will they build,
By what lake's edge or pool
Delight men's eyes when I awake some day
To find they have flown away?
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The poem is not bound by a strict metre but mixes line length to empahasie certain imagery as can can be seen in the first stanza in the empahsis of “still sky”. The first five lines of the third stanza are iambic; the iambic pattern aids the development of an argument as the pace increses due a regularity in syllabic constructions providing rythme. The third stanza addresses the degredation of the images prviously created of nauture and harmony: “I have looked upon those brilliant creatures,/ And now my heart is sore.” The pain felt is of grief of a way of living, the voice is representative of a society and heritage; just as th memories of swans are limited by numbers so is the way of life of a society. The change in the poem is presented in the final line of the third stanza, as a iambic rhythme is replaced by trachic; this change highlights the argument that has been built up through rythme: “Tht bell-beat….Trod with a lighter tread.” The force of nature is demonstrative in the the second stanza with the “clamouros wings” of the swans.
Jeffery Spenser from United Kingdom