Essay Questions

Why is the poem structured as a series of questions?

The narrative of this poem constructed as an account witnessed by the speaker for the purpose of teaching a lesson about nature. If the lesson was only about the story of the swan, however, the speaker could simply have framed it as a straight narrative account. The lesson of the swan is actually wrapped inside a larger lesson the speaker hopes to teach the reader. That larger lesson is about paying attention to nature and learning from it. The bulk of the poet’s body of work is based on the premise that nature can be a great teacher, but not on its own. In order for anyone to learn from what nature has to teach, they must be eager to learn and that eager means paying closer attention to what is occurring in the natural world that may not seem like a lesson. The poem is structured as a series of questions that bring the reader more fully into the story of the swan by posing questions to be answered. This is the poet’s strategy in teaching the larger lesson that one should learn to think more critically when viewing the beauty of the natural world.

Why does the speaker ask the reader if they have figured out the purpose of beauty?

The next to last line of the poem is the sixth of seven questions the speaker poses. Up to this point there has been neither an explicit mention nor an allusion to the concept of beauty. What there has been is imagery that describes what the speaker witnessed in language that conveys the natural beauty of the situation. The swan has been described using aesthetically pleasing metaphors like “armful of white blossoms” and imagery engaging silk, linen, lilies and snow. All this figurative language works together to create what is an example of seeing beauty in the natural world and it is typical of the kinds of things people see around them all time which they describe as being beautiful. The poet asks the reader if they understand what beauty is for as a way of getting them to think about why they look at beautiful things in nature. Or, more precisely, why they are content with just appreciating the aesthetic quality without closer scrutiny and a more imaginative appreciation. Seeing the beautiful in nature is also the opportunity to think more deeply about what it means, and this opens up the opportunity to actually learn what those beautiful sights have to teach.

Why is the word “bondage” applied to the swan’s wings?

In describing the aesthetic beauty of the pure whiteness of the swan’s feathers, the speaker describes the mechanism of flight as leading “into the bondage of its wings.” Although it more often is used to connote being held in captivity, bondage can also mean simply being restricted or constrained. The bird is clearly not in any state of subjugation or imprisonment, so the bondage of its wings refers a limitation of use. The implication here applies to the immediate lesson of the story of the swan within the larger lesson of learning how to let nature teach things. The lesson of the swan that the speaker is trying to convey to the reader is that one should listen to their instincts when that inner voice is telling them it’s time to stop drifting along and make a change significant change to their life. This lesson is asserted in the poem’s final line. But the story of the swan comes with certain limitations. For one thing, a person can’t just suddenly fly out of the cold dark water existence they have been drifting in for some time. But a person can metaphorically take flight. The reference to the limitation of the swan’s wings is that as spectacular as flying seems, the laws of physics can’t be broken. In order to get from its position in the cold water into the sky above requires certain effort pressed upon it by the external laws governing behavior. So, while the swan can teach a lesson about following instinct to no longer drift down a black river, any humans that learn from it that they can change their life as well must also be prepared for that change to come with the bondage of certain limitations that must be taken into consideration.