In your essay, you should:

Support your argument with close textual references throughout.

• Analyze how Sheers presents the swans' behavior as a symbol of lasting partnership and how this alters the couple's dynamic.
• Examine the poet's use of imagery, structure, and form (including the volta and the closing couplet) to mirror the emotional progression of the relationship.
• Discuss how language choices — such as "icebergs of white feather" and "folded over each other like a pair of hands" — emphasize themes of vulnerability, resilience, and reunion.
• Consider how the natural and human worlds are intertwined in the poem's conclusion, and what this implies about nature's restorative power.

Your essay should:

> "…like a pair of wings settling after flight."

Use close textual references and quotations throughout to support your argument.

• Introduce the poem's main conflict and the role of the natural setting.
• Analyse at least three specific moments in the poem where natural imagery mirrors or changes the emotional state of the couple.
• Explore how Sheers' use of poetic form (stanza structure, enjambment, volta) enhances the poem's thematic progression.
• Consider the significance of the swans as a symbol — including their natural pairing and the act of "folding" — and what this indicates about love and commitment.
• Conclude with a judgment on how effectively the natural world serves as a medium for emotional truth in the poem.