Symbolism in the Wild Swans at Coole

In the opening stanza of “The Wild Swans at Coole”, Yeats contrasts the environment which surrounds him with the brimming water of the lake. He describes the setting as being late autumn, a period where natural things are in the process of dying and notes that “the woodland paths are dry”, perhaps symbolic for how Yeats felt about this stage in his life. On the other hand, the lake is the complete opposite: full of life and movement. Where the environment symbolizes Yeats growing old and weary, the lake and its occupants represent youth and energy which he feels he lacks. The fifty-nine swans in the lake symbolize that feeling. To explain; fifty-nine is one number away from sixty, an even number in which each swan has a mate, and as a result one must assume that a swan is missing (Yeats).
The great broken rings the swans make in the second stanza symbolizes that youth is not eternal. Rings are circular objects which represent unity and infinity “without beginning or end”, however these rings are broken and so they have a start and end point.
Finally, another major symbol is located in the final stanza when Yeats describes that one day he will awake to find the swans gone and “delight men’s eyes”. The swans flying away and presenting themselves to other people symbolizes that after he has passed, other men will grow old and experience the disconnection he has felt between being old and lost youthfulness.

The poem is about Yeats growing old and feeling as if he cannot relate to the youthful energy he once had. He finishes the poem by revealing that this feeling is and will always be shared amongst others that are at his stage in