The Wild Swans at Coole
Yeats is over 50 by the time he writes this poem. He has aged and the world around him has changed and he reflects on this against a background of the unchanging nature of the Swans at Coole.
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The Wild Swans at Coole
THE TREES are in their autumn beauty, The woodland paths are dry, Under the October twilight the water Mirrors a still sky; Upon the brimming water among the stones 5 Are nine and fifty swans. The nineteenth Autumn has come upon me Since I first made my count; I saw, before I had well finished, All suddenly mount 10 And scatter wheeling in great broken rings Upon their clamorous wings. I have looked upon those brilliant creatures, And now my heart is sore. All’s changed since I, hearing at twilight, 15 The first time on this shore, The bell-beat of their wings above my head, Trod with a lighter tread. Unwearied still, lover by lover, They paddle in the cold, 20 Companionable streams or climb the air; Their hearts have not grown old; Passion or conquest, wander where they will, Attend upon them still. But now they drift on the still water 25 Mysterious, beautiful; Among what rushes will they build, By what lake’s edge or pool Delight men’s eyes, when I awake some day To find they have flown away? |
Spoken word VersionsRecorded at Contact Studios, Tallaght. Recording Engineer and Instrumentalist Gerry Horan. Vocals and Guitar Tony Bardon. Backing Vocalist Danai Kelleher
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