Q2 of 5 Page 110

What do ‘the light tread’ and ‘the sore heart’ refer to?

The ‘light tread’ refers to how the poet would walk some nineteen autumns back. He was a free man and could go wherever he wanted to – just like the Swans. But now he has a ‘sore heart’ while looking at the Swans since senility has grasped him. He can no longer trod around like a free soul. Neither do his mental and physical conditions allow him to do so.


More from this chapter

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1

How do the ‘trees in their autumn beauty’, ‘dry woodland paths’, ‘October twilight’, ‘still sky’ connect to the poet’s own life?

 3

What is the contrast between the liveliness of the swans and human life?

 4

What contributes to the beauty and mystery of the swans’ lives?

 1

Notice the rhyme scheme in the poem. Do you notice a consistent pattern? We use a new letter for every new sound at the end of the lines. The rhyme scheme for the first stanza is given alongside the lines. Do it for the rest of the poem.