Bring on the tough stuff - there’s not just one right answer.
- Why is the speaker so obsessed with swans?
- Is it possible that there aren't really any swans and the speaker is just fantasizing about them, using them perhaps as a symbol of something he doesn't want to talk about? If so, what might they represent?
- Why are there only fifty-nine swans?
- How old do you think this speaker is? Why?
- Based on their stillness in the last stanza, do you think the speaker has the power to affect the swans the same way that they affect him? Why or why not?