| This poem seems pretty self-expamatory. I do believe that it is basically a narrative and does not have any deeper meaning to the reader. To me it appears only to be a rendition of Yeats explaining how a group of Swans live throughout there time at Coole during the season. Looking at it through a different light though, one might assume that the swans represent Yeats and his friends who were working toward spreading nationalism throughout Ireland once again. This could also be supported by the fact that its owner had opened the house to poetic nationalists like himself. As they did so their numbers grew until they too took off to spread their feelings. As to the location, I know that Yeats did spend a lot of time at Coole in his early poetic years in which he could very easily have encountered the swans that became part of this poem. Because this was written around the time he had returned there to be with its owner, Lady Gregory, while she was dying, it might be a poem, reminising about the past which he enjoyed there and how things had changed. Everything seemed to grow in numbers, including his poetic achievements, his ecperience, his memories, etc. The list could probably go on forever. |