Sense of negativity - emphasises the pause in the weather and perhaps in their relationship Personification - the heavy rain may reflect the problems in the couple’s relationship Personification - the earth’s desperation links to how their relationship is struggling to survive for life There is a pause created that emphasises the couple’s silence and separation The couple is keeping to the edge of the lake, but also keeping their distance from each other and perhaps avoiding the issue and difficulties that troubles them Suggests that what the swans are doing are meaningful for the couple as the speaker is inspired by them - swans only spend time with one partner Suggests that the couple is weighed down by the problems in their relationship Verb - ‘halved’ suggests separation but also the swans were a whole to begin with - reflects the relationshipMetaphor - icebergs have more below the surface of the water they do above. Suggests that the couple keeps things hidden from each other and are not communicating, or it could imply that their relationship has a strong foundation Metaphor - ‘porcelain’ is strong and beautiful - reflects the hope that their love will have these qualities Simile - it has been a rough time in the relationship but things are becoming more stable Watershed moment - this is the first time we hear one of them speak to the other - this voice seems to confirm that they have turned a corner in their relationship They are moving together and in unison like the swans did Represents how the disruption in the couple’s relationship is settling down Swan imagery to describe them holding hands - this shows that they are following the example of the swans Metaphor - their hands have crossed the physical distance between them suggesting that they have come close together closely Full stop - emphasises the sense that the trouble in their relationship has been raised They are no longer two separate things, but part of one whole Winter Swans The clouds had given their all – two days of rain and then a break in which we walked, the waterlogged earth gulping for breath at our feet as we skirted the lake, silent and apart, until the swans came and stopped us with a show of tipping in unison.As if rolling weights down their bodies to their heads they halved themselves in the dark water, icebergs of white feather, paused before returning again like boats righting in rough weather.‘They mate for life’ you said as they left, porcelain over the stilling water. I didn’t reply but as we moved on through the afternoon light, slow-stepping in the lake’s shingle and sand, I noticed our hands, that had, somehow, swum the distance between us and folded, one over the other, like a pair of wings settling after flight.Owen Sheers Creates an impression of softness - reflects the softening of tension between them Motif of two
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