Class 12 NCERT Solutions eNGLISH 

Kaliedoscope Poetry Chapter 6

The Wild Swans At Coole

Understanding the Poem

1. How do the ‘trees in their autumn beauty’, ‘dry woodland paths’, ‘October twilight’, ‘still sky’ connect to the poet’s own life?

✅ 20 Words:

They reflect the poet's ageing and loneliness. Just like nature is fading in autumn, the poet feels his youth is ending.

✅ 40 Words:

The autumn trees and quiet surroundings reflect the poet's own ageing and emotional emptiness. The fading beauty of nature mirrors the poet’s loss of youth, love, and excitement. He compares his life’s decline with the calm, quiet autumn setting.

✅ 60 Words:

The poet uses nature's autumn beauty to mirror his emotional state. The dry woodland and still twilight skies reflect the calm but sad phase of his life. Just like the trees are shedding leaves, the poet feels he’s losing his passion and youth. This symbolic connection highlights how deeply he feels the changes in both nature and himself.

✅ 80 Words:

W.B. Yeats paints a picture of calm but fading beauty in nature—autumn trees, dry paths, and twilight skies—which symbolizes the decline in his own life. These lines reflect his ageing and emotional weariness. The poet had once felt youthful and hopeful, but now feels a deep loneliness. Nature’s transformation into autumn becomes a metaphor for his own transition from youth to old age, making the environment a reflection of his inner feelings of sorrow and change.

2. What do ‘the light tread’ and ‘the sore heart’ refer to?

✅ 20 Words:

‘Light tread’ shows youth and joy. ‘Sore heart’ shows the poet’s sadness and emotional pain due to aging and change.

✅ 40 Words:

‘Light tread’ suggests the poet’s earlier, joyful days when he was young and hopeful. ‘Sore heart’ shows his current emotional pain as he realizes how much life has changed. The contrast reveals how time and age have affected him.

✅ 60 Words:

The poet once walked with a ‘light tread’, showing his happiness and light-hearted youth. Now, he feels a ‘sore heart’, meaning deep sadness and emotional heaviness. This contrast shows how life’s experiences, ageing, and lost dreams have hurt him over time. He no longer feels the same joy and hope he once did.

✅ 80 Words:

‘Light tread’ symbolizes the poet’s youthful spirit, joy, and emotional freedom in the past. He once walked happily and hopefully, touched by the beauty of the swans. But now, he feels a ‘sore heart’—a metaphor for the pain, sadness, and emotional burden caused by ageing and life’s changes. This contrast between past happiness and present sorrow highlights the theme of lost youth and the emotional journey of growing older, making the poem deeply personal and touching.

3. What is the contrast between the liveliness of the swans and human life?

✅ 20 Words:

Swans stay youthful and free. In contrast, human life changes with age, bringing sadness, pain, and emotional decline.

✅ 40 Words:

Swans are still full of energy, love, and freedom. But the poet, like most humans, has aged and feels tired and lonely. This contrast shows that while nature remains constant and beautiful, human life changes and often brings sorrow.

✅ 60 Words:

The swans remain full of life, love, and beauty even after many years. They are unchanging and passionate. In contrast, human life, as seen through the poet’s experience, is full of emotional changes, ageing, and sorrow. The poet feels tired and emotionally weak, while the swans symbolize strength, youth, and timeless grace, creating a strong emotional contrast.

✅ 80 Words:

Yeats shows a powerful contrast between the graceful, lively swans and the ageing, emotional decline of human life. The swans are still energetic, moving freely and lovingly in pairs. They remain untouched by time. But human beings, like the poet, grow old, lose hope, and carry emotional pain. This contrast shows Yeats’ deep sorrow over lost youth and the constant passing of time. While the swans are symbols of eternal beauty, humans are bound by change, age, and inner struggle.

4. What contributes to the beauty and mystery of the swans’ lives?

✅ 20 Words:

Their constant love, graceful movements, and timeless freedom make their lives beautiful and mysterious to the poet.

✅ 40 Words:

Swans live in harmony, paddling together in streams or flying in the sky. They remain youthful and passionate. Their graceful actions, loyalty to each other, and unknown journeys contribute to their charm and mystery in the poet’s eyes.

✅ 60 Words:

The swans are always together, full of love and energy. They live freely in nature, whether swimming in peaceful waters or flying high. Their ability to stay youthful and passionate adds beauty. Their unknown destinations and wild nature add mystery. To the poet, their lives seem magical and perfect, untouched by time and emotional pain.

✅ 80 Words:

The swans’ beauty comes from their graceful movements, loyalty in pairs, and timeless passion. They swim calmly in the streams and soar in the skies without aging or tiring. Their freedom, strength, and constant companionship make them appear magical. The poet sees mystery in their wild, free lives—wondering where they will go, where they’ll build their nests, and whether they will be there tomorrow. Their connection with nature and their unchanging spirit contrast with human ageing, deepening their mystery.

EXTRA QUESTIONS 

✅ 1. Why does the poet feel emotional while watching the swans?

🔹 20 words:

The poet feels emotional because he sees the swans unchanged, while his own life has changed and become lonely.

🔹 40 words:

The poet is deeply moved by the swans’ youthful energy. Watching them reminds him of his own aging and loneliness. He feels a sense of loss because he once felt that joy, but now his heart is filled with sorrow.

🔹 60 words:

Yeats feels emotional as he watches the swans because they are still full of life, beauty, and love, while he feels old and emotionally tired. This contrast makes him reflect on his past youth and lost dreams. The sight of the swans makes him remember a time when he too felt light and happy, which now feels far away.

🔹 80 words:

The poet feels emotional while watching the swans because they remain unchanged, graceful, and full of passion, unlike his own life. Their constant beauty reminds him of the passing years, lost youth, and emotional emptiness. Earlier, he felt joy and hope, but now his heart is sore. Seeing the swans takes him back to a time when life felt full of possibilities. Now, he’s left with memories and a longing for what’s gone, making the scene deeply emotional for him.

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✅ 2. What does the poet admire about the swans?

🔹 20 words:

The poet admires their beauty, unity, youthful energy, and freedom. They live passionately and seem untouched by time.

🔹 40 words:

Yeats admires how the swans move together in pairs, showing love and loyalty. They appear energetic, graceful, and wild. Their ability to stay youthful and free, even after many years, makes them symbols of beauty, passion, and natural perfection.

🔹 60 words:

The poet admires the swans for their grace, companionship, and strength. They live freely in nature, flying or paddling in streams, always together. Their love and energy remain unchanged over time. While human life grows dull with age, the swans stay vibrant. This eternal charm makes them mysterious and admirable in the poet’s eyes, inspiring both wonder and sadness.

🔹 80 words:

W.B. Yeats deeply admires the swans for their elegance, loyalty, and timeless beauty. They always appear in pairs, moving gracefully in streams or flying high. Their lives seem full of energy, love, and freedom. Unlike humans who age and grow emotionally tired, the swans remain passionate and unwearied. Their mysterious lives, untamed nature, and youthful spirit make them admirable. They represent an ideal state of life—free, loving, and unchanged by time—which the poet longs for but knows he cannot reach.

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✅ 3. How does Yeats use nature to reflect his emotions?

🔹 20 words:

Yeats uses autumn, twilight, and still water to reflect his loneliness, ageing, and emotional pain in a calm, quiet way.

🔹 40 words:

Nature in the poem mirrors the poet’s feelings. The autumn trees and still skies show sadness and aging. Dry paths suggest emotional emptiness. Through these natural images, Yeats expresses how his life has lost its old excitement and warmth.

🔹 60 words:

Yeats beautifully connects nature with his inner emotions. The autumn setting, dry woodland paths, and twilight skies reflect his loneliness and emotional decline. The fading natural beauty symbolizes the fading joy in his life. Nature’s stillness shows his quiet sorrow, while the active swans show what he has lost. This contrast makes his sadness and emotional depth more powerful.

🔹 80 words:

In the poem, Yeats masterfully uses nature as a mirror of his emotional state. The calm autumn trees, still skies, and dry paths create a quiet, reflective mood that matches his sadness and loneliness. These natural elements symbolize the ageing process and the loss of youthful joy. While nature appears peaceful, the swans add energy and life, contrasting with the poet’s tired spirit. This use of natural imagery allows Yeats to express his deep emotional struggles in a gentle, poetic way.

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✅ 4. What theme does the poet explore through the swans?

🔹 20 words:

The poet explores themes of ageing, lost youth, eternal beauty, and the contrast between human life and nature’s constancy.

🔹 40 words:

Yeats uses the swans to explore how time changes people but not nature. While he grows older and lonelier, the swans remain lively and loving. The theme reflects the sorrow of ageing and the timeless beauty of the natural world.

🔹 60 words:

Through the swans, Yeats explores themes of change, time, and emotional loss. He contrasts their graceful, passionate life with his own ageing and emotional decline. The swans symbolize freedom, youth, and love that remain constant. Meanwhile, the poet feels the pain of growing old. This contrast highlights how nature’s beauty stays the same while human life keeps changing.

🔹 80 words:

W.B. Yeats uses the swans to explore powerful themes such as ageing, emotional loss, and the unchanging beauty of nature. The swans are symbols of passion, love, and energy that never fade. In contrast, the poet feels time’s effects—loneliness, sadness, and change. This emotional divide reveals the core theme: while human life is full of sorrow and transformation, nature offers a sense of stability and eternal beauty. The poem becomes a reflection on time, memory, and the desire for permanence.

✅ 5. Why does the poet count the swans?

🔹 20 words:

He counts the swans to remember the moment and compare it with the past when his life was full of joy.

🔹 40 words:

Yeats counts the swans to mark time and see if they remain the same. It’s his way of holding on to beauty and youth. The count reminds him how they are unchanged while he has aged emotionally and physically.

🔹 60 words:

The poet counts the swans as a way of connecting the present to the past. When he first saw them nineteen years ago, he was younger and full of hope. Now, as he counts again, he realizes they are unchanged, but he is not. This act symbolizes his longing for permanence in a world where everything changes, especially within himself.

🔹 80 words:

W.B. Yeats counts the swans to capture a memory and reflect on how life has changed over time. The swans, once counted nineteen years ago, are still beautiful and vibrant. But he feels older, more tired, and emotionally distant from the joy he once had. Counting them is both a habit and a ritual of emotional reflection. It’s his way of confronting the passage of time and the painful truth that while nature remains constant, human beings grow and suffer.

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✅ 6. What does “clamorous wings” suggest about the swans?

🔹 20 words:

“Clamorous wings” shows the swans’ energy, power, and freedom as they rise together, making loud, lively sounds while flying.

🔹 40 words:

The phrase “clamorous wings” suggests the swans are full of life and movement. They rise with great energy and loud flapping, showing freedom and power. This vibrant image contrasts with the poet’s quiet, emotional state, making the swans seem more alive.

🔹 60 words:

“Clamorous wings” describes the noise and energy of the swans as they suddenly take flight. Their wings create a loud sound, showing their wild, untamed spirit. It highlights how active and full of life they are, unlike the poet, who feels still, silent, and emotionally burdened. This contrast emphasizes the theme of lost youth and the beauty of nature’s vitality.

🔹 80 words:

When Yeats writes “clamorous wings,” he emphasizes the lively, energetic nature of the swans. Their wings make noise as they rise in unison, symbolizing their freedom and strength. This loud, powerful movement shows how alive and untamed they are. For the poet, this sound contrasts sharply with his inner silence and sadness. It’s a reminder of the difference between their unchanged vitality and his emotional decline, making the swans even more admirable and mysterious in his eyes.

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✅ 7. What do the swans symbolize in the poem?

🔹 20 words:

Swans symbolize eternal beauty, love, youth, freedom, and the contrast between nature’s constancy and human change over time.

🔹 40 words:

In the poem, swans symbolize timeless beauty, harmony, and youthful energy. While human emotions fade and people grow older, the swans remain unchanged. They represent the eternal part of nature that contrasts with the poet’s feelings of ageing and emotional loss.

🔹 60 words:

Swans in the poem symbolize the eternal and unchanging beauty of nature. They are graceful, free, and always in pairs, reflecting harmony and love. Unlike humans, they remain full of life even as years pass. Yeats uses them to show what he has lost—his youth, joy, and energy. Their constant vitality makes the poet reflect on his emotional journey and personal change.

🔹 80 words:

Yeats uses the swans as powerful symbols of everything he feels he has lost—youth, love, energy, and joy. The swans represent timeless beauty and harmony in nature. They are always paired, full of life, and untouched by time. In contrast, the poet feels older, emotionally tired, and alone. The swans become a reminder of nature’s constancy and the painful reality of human change. Their symbolism enriches the poem’s emotional depth, highlighting the gap between past happiness and present sorrow.

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✅ 8. How does the poet describe the setting around the lake?

🔹 20 words:

He describes it as calm and peaceful, with autumn trees, dry paths, twilight skies, and still, reflective water.

🔹 40 words:

The setting is calm and full of gentle beauty. Trees are in their autumn colours, woodland paths are dry, and the twilight sky reflects in the still lake water. This peaceful scene reflects the poet’s quiet sadness and emotional reflection.

🔹 60 words:

Yeats paints a serene and emotional landscape around the lake. The trees wear autumn colours, the paths are dry, and the evening sky is quiet and still. The water mirrors the sky, creating a peaceful scene. This soft, calm setting reflects the poet’s mood—nostalgic and sorrowful. The silence of nature matches his inner emotions and deepens the poem’s reflective tone.

🔹 80 words:

The poet describes the lake’s surroundings with soft, natural imagery that mirrors his emotions. The autumn trees look beautiful yet fading, symbolizing change. The woodland paths are dry, showing stillness and quiet. The twilight sky and the calm, reflective water add to the peaceful, slightly melancholic mood. Everything is calm and motionless—except the swans. This contrast makes the setting feel like a space for memory and reflection, helping Yeats express his inner feelings of sorrow, nostalgia, and longing for the past.

✅ 9. Why does the poet call the swans "brilliant creatures"?

🔹 20 words:

The poet calls them “brilliant” because they are graceful, vibrant, full of life, and untouched by time or sorrow.

🔹 40 words:

Yeats refers to the swans as “brilliant creatures” because they move with elegance, energy, and beauty. Their vibrant lives stand in contrast to his aging and sorrow. Their freedom, passion, and natural charm make them appear bright and full of wonder.

🔹 60 words:

The swans are described as “brilliant creatures” due to their timeless beauty, graceful movements, and youthful energy. They remain unaffected by time or emotional burden, which deeply moves the poet. In contrast, he feels old and emotionally tired. Their brilliance symbolizes the perfection and constancy of nature, making them shine emotionally and visually in his otherwise sad world.

🔹 80 words:

W.B. Yeats calls the swans “brilliant creatures” because they embody everything he feels he has lost—youth, love, freedom, and vitality. Their graceful movements, constant companionship, and energy make them appear radiant. Unlike humans who age and suffer emotional pain, the swans remain free, strong, and full of passion. This unchanging brilliance fills the poet with admiration but also sorrow, as it reminds him of how time has changed him while the swans remain untouched.

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✅ 10. What is the emotional tone of the poem?

🔹 20 words:

The tone is nostalgic, sad, and reflective. The poet expresses loss, ageing, and deep longing for his youthful days.

🔹 40 words:

The poem carries a deeply emotional tone filled with sorrow and reflection. Yeats feels nostalgic as he remembers past joy and compares it with his current loneliness and aging. The calm, fading natural setting adds to the poem’s quiet sadness.

🔹 60 words:

Yeats uses a nostalgic and sorrowful tone to reflect on time, ageing, and lost youth. The peaceful natural setting contrasts with his aching heart. Watching the unchanged swans reminds him of how much his own life has changed. The emotional tone remains calm yet deeply moving, filled with longing, quiet despair, and a wish to relive the happiness of earlier years.

🔹 80 words:

The poem’s emotional tone is reflective, melancholic, and nostalgic. Yeats quietly expresses his sadness about aging and the emotional distance from his past joy. He looks at the lively swans with admiration but also longing. They bring back memories of youth, passion, and freedom. The calm setting and gentle rhythm enhance this tone. Through nature, Yeats explores his inner sorrow, making the poem emotionally powerful and relatable for anyone who has felt the passing of time and the pain of change.

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✅ 11. What role does time play in the poem?

🔹 20 words:

Time is a key theme. It highlights change in the poet’s life while nature, especially the swans, remains unchanged.

🔹 40 words:

Time creates a contrast between the past and the present. While the swans remain youthful and full of life, the poet has aged and feels emotionally tired. This difference shows how time affects humans deeply, but not the natural world.

🔹 60 words:

Time plays a central role by showing the difference between the poet’s current self and who he was nineteen years ago. Back then, he felt youthful and joyful. Now, after so many years, he feels lonely and sorrowful. Meanwhile, the swans have not changed. This contrast highlights the emotional and physical effects of time on human life.

🔹 80 words:

In this poem, time is both a physical and emotional force. It has aged the poet and taken away his light-hearted spirit, leaving behind a sore heart. He remembers how he once admired the swans with hope and joy. Now, watching them again nineteen years later, he realizes how much he has changed while they remain unchanged. Time separates him from his past self, creating a strong contrast between human vulnerability and the eternal grace of the swans in nature.

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✅ 12. What is the significance of the number “fifty-nine” swans?

🔹 20 words:

It’s an exact count showing the poet’s deep attention. It may also reflect loneliness—perhaps one swan is missing its pair.

🔹 40 words:

The count “fifty-nine” shows the poet’s careful observation. It’s specific and may suggest something missing or incomplete. Some believe it symbolizes the poet’s loneliness—since swans usually pair, an odd number suggests that someone, like him, may be alone.

🔹 60 words:

The specific mention of “fifty-nine” swans reveals the poet’s habit of counting and observing them closely. Since swans often move in pairs, this odd number could symbolize emotional imbalance or missing love. It subtly reflects Yeats’s own loneliness and feelings of incompleteness. The exact count adds realism but also layers of deeper emotional meaning to the poem.

🔹 80 words:

Yeats deliberately mentions “fifty-nine” swans, a very specific and unusual number. It shows his close attention and long-standing connection with the swans. Some critics interpret this odd number symbolically—since swans are known to move in loving pairs, an odd number may represent the poet’s solitude or emotional emptiness. Perhaps one swan, like the poet, is alone. This detail, while small, adds emotional weight to the poem and strengthens the theme of isolation and lost companionship.

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✅ 13. What does the poet wonder in the last stanza?

🔹 20 words:

He wonders where the swans will go, what place they’ll delight next, and fears they may leave without him seeing.

🔹 40 words:

Yeats questions where the swans will build nests next and which people will enjoy their beauty. He fears waking one day to find them gone. This reflects his fear of loss and change, both in nature and in life.

🔹 60 words:

In the last stanza, the poet wonders about the future of the swans—where they’ll live, who they’ll charm next, and whether they’ll disappear. This reflects his fear of being left behind or waking one day to find beauty has left him. The stanza shows his emotional vulnerability and deep desire to stay connected with something eternal.

🔹 80 words:

Yeats ends the poem with thoughtful questions about the swans' future—where they’ll build, by what lake, and who will enjoy their beauty. He fears that one day he may return and find them gone. This represents more than just the loss of swans—it symbolizes his fear of being left alone, abandoned by beauty and passion. The questions show his emotional uncertainty and his longing to hold on to something constant in a world full of change and loss.

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✅ 14. How does the poet feel when he first saw the swans?

🔹 20 words:

He felt happy, youthful, and full of wonder when he first saw the swans nineteen years ago.

🔹 40 words:

The poet recalls feeling light-hearted and filled with joy when he first saw the swans. That moment was full of passion and excitement. The memory contrasts with his current emotional state, where he feels tired and distant from that youthful joy.

🔹 60 words:

When Yeats first saw the swans, he was filled with wonder and happiness. Their graceful beauty and freedom thrilled him. He felt youthful and alive, as if nature had touched his soul. This joyful moment stayed with him for nineteen years. Now, looking back, he realizes how much his life has changed, making the memory both sweet and painful.

🔹 80 words:

The poet remembers the first time he saw the swans with a sense of joy and emotional excitement. He felt light and hopeful, as if the bell-beat of their wings had awakened something youthful and passionate within him. It was a moment of emotional connection to nature’s beauty and mystery. However, now, with time having passed, that memory stands in painful contrast to his current loneliness, making it even more meaningful and full of emotional depth.

✅ 15. How does the image of “twilight” reflect the poet’s emotional state?

🔹 20 words:

“Twilight” reflects the poet’s sadness and fading joy. Like evening, it suggests the nearing end of youth and emotional brightness.

🔹 40 words:

Twilight, the time between day and night, symbolizes the fading of the poet’s happiness and youth. It shows his emotional decline and inner sorrow. This quiet, dim light reflects his feelings of loneliness and the transition from joy to sadness.

🔹 60 words:

The image of twilight mirrors the poet’s emotional state of sadness and loss. Just as twilight marks the end of the day, Yeats feels he is in the evening of his life. His youth and passions are fading, replaced by quiet reflection and emotional emptiness. This soft, fading light perfectly expresses the gentle sorrow and nostalgia he feels within.

🔹 80 words:

Yeats uses the image of twilight to reflect his emotional journey. Twilight is neither day nor night—it’s a time of fading light and growing silence. Similarly, Yeats feels caught between memories of youthful joy and the reality of aging and loneliness. It symbolizes the end of passion, energy, and vibrancy, and the beginning of emotional stillness. This calm but sad image shows his quiet acceptance of change and the slow, painful realization of all that he has emotionally lost.

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✅ 16. Why is the setting of October significant in the poem?

🔹 20 words:

October, the middle of autumn, represents decline, ageing, and fading beauty, which matches the poet’s emotional and physical state.

🔹 40 words:

The poet chooses October to reflect his own aging and sense of loss. Autumn symbolizes the fading of life and energy. As leaves fall and nature prepares for winter, the poet feels the same emotional decline, loneliness, and fading of passion.

🔹 60 words:

October is symbolic of change and decline in the natural world. It represents the passing of youth and arrival of old age. This perfectly reflects the poet’s emotional state—he feels that his best years are behind him. While nature turns still and silent in autumn, so does Yeats’s heart, full of sorrow and reflection. The season deepens the poem’s emotional impact.

🔹 80 words:

Yeats uses the setting of October—the middle of autumn—to express themes of fading life, quiet sorrow, and emotional ageing. Autumn is a time when trees shed leaves, and everything prepares for the stillness of winter. This matches the poet’s emotional experience. His earlier joy and youth have fallen away, just like the autumn leaves. October becomes a metaphor for his life’s decline, where he no longer feels excitement but is instead surrounded by silence, memories, and the mystery of passing time.

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✅ 17. How do the swans represent eternal love?

🔹 20 words:

The swans move in pairs, stay together, and live passionately, symbolizing a love that is loyal, strong, and timeless.

🔹 40 words:

Swans are known for their lifelong companionship. In the poem, they swim in pairs and fly together, showing lasting love. Their togetherness and unchanged passion over the years represent a pure, eternal form of love that the poet deeply admires.

🔹 60 words:

Yeats presents the swans as symbols of eternal love. They are always together—paddling in streams or soaring through the skies, unwearied and affectionate. This constancy represents the kind of lasting love the poet feels is missing from his own life. As he grows old and emotionally distant, the swans remind him of a love that never fades with time.

🔹 80 words:

In “The Wild Swans at Coole,” the swans symbolize a love that is pure, strong, and everlasting. Always in pairs, they move with harmony and passion, showing a bond that endures. The poet sees them as unchanging, untouched by the years. This everlasting connection contrasts with human relationships, which often fade or break over time. Yeats feels sorrow because his own life lacks that kind of love. Through the swans, he presents an ideal of love that is eternal and deeply moving.

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✅ 18. What message does the poem give about ageing and change?

🔹 20 words:

The poem shows that human life changes with age, bringing loss and sorrow, while nature often remains beautiful and unchanged.

🔹 40 words:

Yeats gives a message that time changes people. We grow old, feel emotional loss, and long for our past. In contrast, nature, like the swans, remains vibrant and unchanging. The poem highlights the sadness of ageing and human vulnerability.

🔹 60 words:

The poem explores how ageing changes human life. As time passes, people lose their youth, energy, and emotional warmth. The poet feels this deeply in his sore heart. But the swans, part of nature, remain unchanged. Yeats suggests that unlike people, nature stays constant. The message is clear: ageing brings loss, but beauty and passion in nature may last forever.

🔹 80 words:

“The Wild Swans at Coole” conveys that ageing is a painful part of human life. Yeats reflects on how he has changed emotionally and physically over the years, while the swans remain youthful, passionate, and free. This contrast brings out a deep message: time takes away human joy and love, but nature often resists such change. The poem mourns lost youth and shows how emotional change is unavoidable for humans, making the beauty and constancy of nature feel even more valuable and precious.

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✅ 19. Why is “still water” used as a symbol in the poem?

🔹 20 words:

“Still water” symbolizes calmness, reflection, and emotional silence. It reflects the poet’s inner stillness, sadness, and thoughtful mood.

🔹 40 words:

Yeats uses “still water” to mirror his own emotional stillness and quiet sadness. Just as the lake is calm and unmoving, so is his heart—tired, reflective, and sorrowful. It adds to the peaceful yet lonely mood of the poem.

🔹 60 words:

“Still water” is a powerful symbol in the poem. It reflects the poet’s emotional state—calm on the outside but deeply thoughtful and sorrowful inside. It also mirrors the sky and the swans, creating a peaceful but haunting setting. The stillness represents a pause in time where the poet reflects on what he has lost, adding depth to the poem’s mood.

🔹 80 words:

In “The Wild Swans at Coole,” the “still water” serves as a strong symbol of emotional calm and inner reflection. The lake is silent and unmoving, much like the poet’s heart, which is full of quiet sorrow and deep thought. This stillness allows the swans’ beauty to shine and also provides a mirror for the poet’s emotions. The still water reflects not only the sky but also the emotional stillness within Yeats, making it a key symbol of quiet sadness and thoughtful introspection.

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✅ 20. How does Yeats contrast movement and stillness in the poem?

🔹 20 words:

He contrasts the swans’ energetic flight with the still water and calm setting, showing life versus reflection and aging.

🔹 40 words:

Yeats contrasts the lively, flying swans with the calm, unmoving lake. The swans represent energy, love, and freedom. The still surroundings represent his quiet, ageing mind. This contrast deepens the emotional meaning, showing the difference between vitality and decline.

🔹 60 words:

In the poem, Yeats beautifully contrasts the swans’ active movements with the stillness of the lake and autumn setting. The swans fly and paddle with passion, while the world around them is silent and calm. This difference symbolizes the contrast between the poet’s current emotional stillness and the unchanged, vibrant energy of nature. It highlights his feelings of loss and change.

🔹 80 words:

Yeats uses movement and stillness to show the emotional and physical contrast between the swans and himself. The swans are alive with motion, their “clamorous wings” soaring through the sky, symbolizing love, freedom, and passion. Meanwhile, the lake is still, the paths are dry, and the air is quiet—all representing the poet’s ageing, reflection, and inner silence. This sharp contrast helps express his sorrow over what he has lost and deepens the emotional richness of the poem.