The Speaker

The speaker is the primary character of “The Swan.” Her presence is undeniable – the whole poem is made up of a variety of creative questions she asks to her listener, such as when she inquiries, “And did you see it, finally, just under the clouds – / A white cross Streaming across the sky, its feet / Like black leaves, its wings Like the stretching light of the river?” (10-12). Such questions showcase the subjectivity of the speaker’s mind, yet, in terms of direct references to her own personhood, “The Swan” does not carry any first-person pronouns.

This erasure of the speaker’s own subjectivity causes her to come across as thoughtful, contemplative, and deep, strongly and emotionally attached to the sighting of the swan that causes her such wonder. Rather than appearing overly self-involved, self-interested, and self-assured from the repeated use of a first person, “I, I, I...