17 pages • 34 minutes read
John HollanderSwan and Shadow
Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1966A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Swan
Traditionally, a swan is a symbol of beauty and perfection in Western literature and art. In “Swan and Shadow,” the swan represents the fleeting and momentary existence of beauty. Whether it is the beauty of a creation of nature or a joyous instant, it cannot be preserved as it was, but it can be remembered in memory or written about as in the poem, all forming “memorial shades” (Line 22). That is why the swan and its shadow in the poem are similar in shape (due to the lineation) but dissimilar in content, rhyme, and number of syllables per line; even the swan’s shadow is not the swan. The memory of a beautiful moment is not the moment itself but is beautiful in its own right.
Shadow
Shadow represents the reflection of the swan in the water and in the eye, and it also represents darkness. The reflection symbolizes the memory of a moment. Even while one is experiencing a moment, the mind tries to register and process it, just as the speaker’s eye notices the swan and the brain recognizes it as a swan. “Swan and Shadow” is an impression (a reflection) of the swan, a different entity from the living swan.
Relating to darkness, a shadow is an area where there is less light and which might appear as a relative absence of light. The poem conceptualizes shadow as the unknown. While the swan is a concrete object, shadows are mysterious and abstract. Shadows are imagination, the mind, and memory. It is where the “memorial shades” (Line 22) of the swan are formed.
Water
Symbolizing time and life, water is a prominent motif in the poem. The swan might come and go, but the water remains constant. Though moments end, time itself keeps going. Similarly, though individual lives might have finite spans, life itself continues in some form or the other. Although time might appear static, in the sense that people are caught in the present moment, it is always flowing and rippling. The poem refers to light and shadow gathering and coming apart in the water. This signifies the movement of the water itself. Even in a still pool, the poem’s probable setting, the water is dynamic.
Further, the poem’s peculiar lineation, with a line’s phrases separated, mirrors the blurred surface of the water. When describing the appearance of the image in water, the poem switches to a yes-no format, mirroring an internal dialogue, as seen in Lines 22-25: “Scattered bits of / light No of water Or something across/ water Breaking up No Being regathered/ soon.” This might symbolize the mystery of time and existence, which is difficult to capture, understand, and articulate.
