The Wild Swans at Coole

“The Wild Swans at Code” is the story of a man growing old and wondering when he will be gone. At the beginning the man is nineteen shown by, “The nineteenth autumn has come upon me”(7). Next, he notices a body of water with “nine-and-fifty swans” (6) withinin. Eventually the swans “scatter wheeling in great broken rings” (11) and the author feels “heart… sore,” (14). The author is sad because when they flew away, “their wings [were] above my head,” (18). Finally, the author asks, “they have flown away?” (30).