Did you too see it drifting, all night, on the black river?
-- Speaker (Line 1)

Importance: These lines open “The Swan.” They are significant because they already reveal the identity of Oliver’s speaker as an inquisitor – though she enjoys the calm of nature, of the swan “drifting, all night, on the black river,” she speaker not from a perspective of alienation or complete disillusionment towards human companionship. In even this first line, the speaker addresses the “you,” to whom she directly asks questions throughout the body of the poem. As such, the speaker already reveals herself as someone who enjoys profound human connection and compassion brought on by the tranquil beauty of nature.

Did you see it in the morning, rising into the silvery air – / An armful of white blossoms, / A perfect commotion of silk and linen as it leaned / into the bondage of its wings; a snowbank, a bank of lilies
-- Speaker (Lines 2-5)

Importance: In...