Invective Against Swans
Invective Against Swans - meaning Summary
Departing Soul and Flocks
Stevens contrasts earthly birds and seasonal decay with a soul that rises above decline. The poem paints autumnal images—bronze rain, falling feathers, crows fouling statues—to show worldly finitude and routine. Addressing ganders, the speaker insists the soul is solitary and escapes these cycles, choosing transcendence over the park’s ceremonial motions. The tone is detached, observing both the physical end of summer and a metaphysical departure.
Read Complete AnalysesThe soul, O ganders, flies beyond the parks And far beyond the discords of the wind. A bronze rain from the sun descending marks The death of summer, which that time endures Like one who scrawls a listless testament Of golden quirks and Paphian caricatures, Bequeathing your white feathers to the moon And giving your bland motions to the air. Behold, already on the long parades The crows anoint the statues with their dirt. And the soul, O ganders, being lonely, flies Beyond your chilly chariots, to the skies.
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