A couple are walking through the 'gulping' mud alongside a lake in winter. They are 'silent and apart' and the reader feels as if the previous 'two days of rain' might have coincided with an argument between the pair. They appear distant. When the sw
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Theme
Partnership: in this poem we are presented with a couple who seem to have had an argument. By the end of the poem they are reconciled, and it seems that their partnership is one that can ride out difficulties.
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Theme
Conflict: at the start of the poem there is a sense that the couple have been arguing, or had a difficult situation to deal with.
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Theme
Love: the poet's companion draws a comparison between the swans and the people by noting that the birds 'mate for life'.
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Evidence
‘I noticed our hands, that had, somehow,/ swum the distance between us’
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Evidence
'we skirted the lake, silent and apart'
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Evidence
''They mate for life' you said as they left,'
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Analysis
By describing the hands as having 'swum' the distance between them, this makes a connection between the couple and the swans, suggesting they too have made a connection for life.
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Analysis
'Skirted' suggests avoidance. The lake works on a literal level (they are walking around the edges of it) and also a metaphor (for the issue they are avoiding).
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Form and Structure
Winter Swans has seven stanzas, the first six of which are three lines each - though the final stanza has two. This emphasises the final stanza and also suggests that the couple are now, like the lines, a reconciled pair. The lines are irregular and
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Language
The language in this poem is straightforward and effective. There are a lot of references to pairs, which could be seen to represent the relationship: 'two days' 'they halved themselves' 'one over the other' 'a pair of wings' This emphasises that the
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Language
Much of the language in this poem works on both a literal and metaphorical level. The weather, the lake and the swans can be interpreted as metaphors for stages in a relationship: the rain can be seen as a time of upset and conflict, resulting in the
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comparison 'Winter Swans' by Owen Sheers and 'Eden Rock' by Charles Causley
Similarities Both poems are about relationships. Both use first-person narrative, which makes the poem feel personal and immediate. Each poem ends with a separate final stanza that emphasises the final thoughts and emotions of the speakers. Both poe
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Differences
Winter Swans is about a romantic couple, while Eden Rock is about the relationship between a child and their parents. Winter Swans is directed from the speaker to his or her lover, and Eden Rock relates a situation to an unnamed third person. Three l
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Context
Owen Sheers is an award-winning poet, novelist and playwright. In his poetry Sheers often writes about places, landscapes and the people who live in them. His work explores history, identity and relationships and he likes to explore the difficulties
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Other cards in this set
Card 2
Front
Theme
Back
Partnership: in this poem we are presented with a couple who seem to have had an argument. By the end of the poem they are reconciled, and it seems that their partnership is one that can ride out difficulties.
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