Winter Swans - Owen Sheers

• Themes

  Nature, separation, loss , reconciliation
• Tones

  Tense and painful, shifts to hopeful
• Summary

  describes the moment a couple realise their fragmented relationship is salvageable while watching some swans at a lake after two days of heavy rain
• The poem is from a collection called…..

  Skirrid hill, which deals with themes of separation
• Big ideas

  Distance heals relationships, Conflict in Relationships is natural, Emotional Distance, Conflict and Opposition, Togetherness
• The swans are a metaphor for….

  companionship, commitment and longevity
• “ we skirted the ……

  Lake, silent and apart”
• "I noticed our hands, that...

  had, somehow, swum the distance between us"
• “Like a pair of ….

  wings settling after a flight “
• “The clouds had…

  given their all”
• "the waterlogged...

  Earth gulping for breath"
• "the clouds had given their all - two days of rain and then a break / in which we walked"


  • Pathetic fallacy implies rain which suggests couple are having a big argument
  • Personification of clouds create a tense tone to reflect this argument
  • Enjambment creates sense of flow and connection despite their conflict
  • 'two' creates a semantic field of pairings
  • Collective pronoun 'we' shows they are intrinsically linked, and their unconditional love
  • The 'break' they take shows how they are willing to want to heal and reconcile
• “the waterlogged Earth gulping for breath"

  • Verb 'gulping' connotes suffocation, hinting the argument is overbearing OR could imply the relationship is claustrophobic
  • Personification of the 'Earth' highlight and hyperbolises the couple's issues
  • “Waterlogged” represents the way their communication has become difficult, can’t take no more water = no more fighting
• "we skirted the lake, silent and apart“


  • Collective pronoun juxtaposes the adverbs 'silent' and 'apart' as it shows they are emotionally together but physically distant
  • Collective Pronoun shows their unison, perhaps hinting they have had conflict before and know how to work together to resolve it
  • Sibilance of 'skirted' and 'silent' creates tone of solitude OR reflects their quietness and solitude OR hints at secrecy within the couple
  • Verb 'skirted' metaphorically suggests they are avoiding their issues in their relationship, but perhaps for the sake of maintaining it
• "I noticed our hands, that had, somehow, swum the distance between us"

  • Verb 'swum' is a reference to the swans, which symbolise commitment and longevity, to show the strength of their relationship and their commitment
  • Personification of hands is a metaphor for them putting their differences aside and reconciling and emphasises the strength of their love
• "porcelain...

  over stilling water"
• "porcelain over stilling water."

  • Caesura is a textual mirror for break in argument
  • Porcelain is fragile and beautiful, emblematic of how relationships are fragile but precious and should be valued
  • Metaphor is emblematic of how relationships are easy to break and hard to fix
• "slow-stepping in...

  the lake's shingle and sand"
• "slow-stepping in the lake's shingle and sand"


  • Sibilance implies it is hard to walk on, depicting the difficult nature of working through conflict (requires input/effort from both people)
  • Verb 'slow-stepping' hints that resolution is a slow process
  • Connotations of "shingle and sand" add to painful tone, conveying how the conflict deeply affected them but they are resilient and willing to work through it
• "like a pair of wings settling after flight"


  • Semantic field of pairings represent the couple and their intimacy
  • Simile compares their reconciliation to a bird landing after flying, suggesting it is natural (since nature is cyclical, could be saying relationships have hint of cyclicity; argue then reconcile)
  • Simile has hopeful tone and captures idea of finding stability after turbulent time
  • Sibilance of 'settling' creates sense of tranquility and harmony, reflecting the couple's conflict come to rest
• "like boats...

  righting in rough weather"
• "like boats righting in rough weather"

  • Simile creates a hopeful mood, hinting at their resolution
  • Pathetic Fallacy 'rough weather' represents their argument
  • Connotations of 'boats' hint at the strength of their relationship, and how they love each other enough that they can withstand conflict
  • Consonance suggests a sense of struggle to add to the painful tone
• " 'They mate for life' you said as they left"

  • Direct monologue breaks their silence, creating sense of hope to their reconciliation
  • Refers to the swans, which symbolise commitment and companionship, to remind them or their love for each other and how they are committed to one another
  • Second Person Personal Pronoun 'you' instantly induces a personal tone to establish the beginning of their reconciliation
• The form is...

  inconsistent to reflect the unpredictable and changing nature of relationships
• Caesura is used to...

  break up the rhythm to show the conflict in the relationship
• The last two lines in the poem are a couplet to show...

  the togetherness of the couple
• Traditionally, couplets represent...

  a conclusion
• The Final Couplet has no rhythm, which may imply...

  there is still tension in the relationship as they are imperfect and always changing
• The first six stanzas are tercets (3 lines) to...

  mirror an obstruction or instability between the couple, possibly being the argument
• The unbalanced tercets are replaced at the end of the poem with...

  a couplet, emblematic of a restoration of balance and harmony
• The last 3 stanzas convey...

  the healing of their relationship
• First 4 stanzas portray...

  the troubles of the couple