Winter Swans

• "the waterlogged earth gulping for breath"
• "icebergs of white feather"
• Duality imagery:

  • "they halved themselves"
  • "two days"
  • "pair of wings"
• "our hands had somehow swum the distance between us"
• hands fold together like "a pair of wings settling after flight""
• Form: Winter Swans is composed of...

  seven stanzas, with the final two lines forming a distinct couplet which echoes the resolution of the couples relationship. These lines are simple and brief, but carry a weight which relieves the emotional tension built up in the poem.
• Winter Swans is written by...

  Owen Sheers
• Structure: Throughout the poem, Sheer's uses...


  enjambment and caesura to create an easy rhythm in places, which emphasises the fluid and calm motion of the swans, which swim in "unison"
• Hands

  Folded, one over the other like a pair of wings settling after flight
• Hands

  Pulled together by a divine force
• Verb "swum"

  • Focuses on the hands which "swum" together, not on the people which moved the hands
• Description

  • Ambiguous, vague description of the lake and the lack of specificity about who "you" is
• Couple

  Divided, unwhole emotionally
• Swans

  • Able to reside in both air and water, in Greek myth this symbolised the ability to exist both on earth and in heaven
• Swans

  Imply the relationship takes place on two levels: spiritual and physical
• Detachment

  Conveys both the difficulties of the couples relationship, and also the power of the swans in uniting the couples hands again
• Techniques:

  • Pathetic fallacy
  • Colour imagery
  • Caesura and enjambment
  • Metaphors (swans like icebergs)