The speaker of the poem is implied to be between middle and old age, looking back on their life through the lens of the swans on the lake. They first came to the lake nineteen years ago, and likely many times in the years following. The speaker is melancholic, looking back at their own memories and heartaches. The eternal beauty of the swans causes him to reflect on his own mortality and changing life. In spite of the speaker’s pain and past mistakes, they do not allow themselves to become (too) jaded; they’re able to appreciate the beauty of the natural world around them and the life the swans still have ahead of them. Although there are no distinguishing marks within the poem, the speaker is widely believed to be representative of the poet himself.