Speaker or Narrator, and Point of View
The action in the poem is told from the perspective of a third-person subjective point of view.
Form and Meter
The poem is written in an iambic pentameter.
Metaphors and Similes
The term breast is used as a metaphor to represent the feelings the woman has.
Alliteration and Assonance
We have an alliteration in the line "by the dark webs, her nape caught in his bill".
Irony
One of the most ironic elements in the poem is the fact that the narrator does not criticize the swan even though what he had done was something abhorring and cruel.
Genre
This poem is a mythological one.
Setting
The action in the poem takes place in the distant past in an unnamed woded area.
Tone
The tone used in the poem is a violent one.
Protagonist and Antagonist
The antagonist is the swan and the protagonist is the helpless woman.
Major Conflict
The major conflict is between the swan and the woman.
Climax
The poem reaches its climax when the swan releases the young woman.
Foreshadowing
In the first line of the poem, the narrator describes a sudden blow experienced by the woman. The description of the blow foreshadows the later violence the woman will have to experience.
Understatement
N/A
Allusions
One of the main allusions in the poem is the idea that the swan raped the young woman. This is alluded through the description of the woman and through the description of her fear.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
The term feather is used as a general term to make reference to the lack of regret the swan felt when abusing the young woman.
Personification
We have a personification in the line "her helpless breast".
Hyperbole
We have a hyperbole in the line "so mastered by the brute blood of the air".
Onomatopoeia
We have an onomatopoeia in the line "the great wings beating silently".
