The poem, “The Romance
of the Swan’s Nest,” was written by Elizabeth Barrett Browning in 1844. This
was one of Elizabeth’s earlier poems, and like many of her other early poems,
this poem is based on romance and the idea of finding love. “[The poem] evokes
the pattern of love and courtship established by medieval romances” (Stone
174). Elizabeth has created a poem that not only focuses on the idea of
medieval love, but also focuses on the love in 1844 and the idea that women are
typically sexualized by men during this time period. For example within this
poem the speaker, Little Ellie, is not only in search for love, but also begins
to realize the true meaning behind the love that will someday find her. While
Little Ellie had hopes of finding a love that would exalt her and would be
solely revolved around her own needs as a woman, the reality is that this form
of love does not exist for Little Ellie nor does it exist for Elizabeth. By
understanding these main components, readers can begin to analyze and
appreciate each of the major sections within the poem.
There are four main sections within this poem. In the
first three stanzas Elizabeth has created an introduction for her speaker,
Little Ellie. These stanzas begin to talk about Little Ellie and describe her
as she sits by the stream side.
She [Little Ellie] has thrown her
bonnet by,
And her feet she has been dipping
In the shallow water’s flow,
Now she holds them nakedly
In her hands, all sleek an dripping,
And her feet she has been dipping
In the shallow water’s flow,
Now she holds them nakedly
In her hands, all sleek an dripping,
While she rocketh to and fro. (7-12)
What is interesting about these stanzas is these are the first stanzas within the poem that readers actually begin to see Little Ellie as being a sexualized figure. Although Elizabeth does not bluntly tell her readers that Little Ellie is being sexualized within the poem, she [Elizabeth] uses figurative language as a way to imply this to her readers. Also, within this portion of the poem Elizabeth uses figurative language as a way to describe Little Ellie’s features. As she begins to describe these features Little Ellie becomes alive within the poem. Readers begin to sense that Little Ellie is still very young, not only by her name implication, but also by the “innocence” and “sweetness” of Little Ellie that seems to be portrayed within these lines. This is the only portion of the poem where Little Ellie is not the speaker. Instead at this point in the poem the speaker seems to be someone who is merely watching Ellie and is describing her as she sits along the stream. However, it seems as if Elizabeth has set this portion of the poem to show that this is actually a memory from Little Ellie’s past. Meaning the entire poem is told from Little Ellie’s point of view, but at this point Little Ellie is older and reflecting upon what she used to be. There is then a shift in the subject matter and the speaker within the next stanzas of the poem.
The second section of this poem begins at stanza four and
goes until stanza eight. Within this
portion of the poem the poem is no longer describing Little Ellie and the
speaker. In stanza four there is a shift of speakers from the remembering tone
of an older Ellie, to a telling tone of the younger Ellie. This is the portion
of the poem where Little Ellie begins to describe her lover. Although Little
Ellie does not yet have a lover, she has created the ideal “man” within her
head based upon what she knows of the men of the medieval times.
“And the steed shall be
red-roan,
And the lover shall be noble,
With an eye that takes
the breath.
And the lute he plays
upon,
Shall strike ladies into trouble,
As his sword strikes men
to death. (25-30)
Within
this section of the poem we also can see the implication that Little Ellie is being
sexualized. Instead of calling the man of her dreams something sophisticated
and pleasant she instead calls him her “lover.” Typically, when one truly loves
someone they do not call a man or a woman their “lover,” and, more importantly
for this time period, a girl of Ellie’s age does not call a man her “lover” at
all because it tends to imply something more than just love is occurring within
the relationship. Also within this portion of the poem readers begin to see the
emphasis upon the medieval times. At this point within the poem Little Ellie
really begins to bring forth the idea that her man needs to be noble, needs to
fight for her love, and that he would need to place her on a pedestal as a way
to showcase his love for her. “Build the shrine my soul abides in,/ And kneel
here for thy grace” (41-42). Once she has found the man who possess these
features Ellie feels that she will be able to show her “lover” the swan’s nest
amongst the reeds. This is the first area within the poem that the swan’s nest
is mentioned and used as way to compare Ellie’s love to that of her lover’s;
because her lover has showcased his love for her she feels that she can
showcase her love for him. One must ask, however, what Elizabeth was implying
with the use of the swan’s nest amongst the reeds? Although it is not a
continuous repetition throughout the poem’s stanzas, the slight repetition that
this does have seems to imply, within itself, that the swan’s nest amongst the
reeds has a much broader meaning. The swan’s nest amongst the reeds does not
appear within the poem again until the last section of the poem.
The third section of the poem is
from stanzas eight to thirteen. Within this portion of the poem Ellie continues
to use figurative language as a way to describe what her lover will do once he
has realized his love for her. This portion of the poem continues to emphasize the
medieval love within the imagination of Little Ellie.
“Then he’ll ride among
the hills
To the wide world past the river,
There to put away all
wrong;
To make straight
distorted wills,
And to empty the broad quiver
Which the wicked bear
along. (55-60).
At
this point within the poem, although Ellie’s lover has showcased his love for
her, she has sent him off to fulfill his rightful duties. As she sends the
foot-page to ask her lover when he shall call upon her love again, Ellie begins
to think what she shall do when her lover returns, if he returns. This portion
of the poem begins to foreshadow what is about to happen to Little Ellie. This brings readers into the last section of
the poem.
In the fourth section of the poem,
which is stanzas fourteen to seventeen, Ellie’s innocent day-dream abruptly
shifts. At first this portion of the poem is very happy and lighthearted, as it
was throughout the other sections. Stanza fourteen describes how Ellie’s lover
will lead her through the crowd that is praising his noble deeds and that again
he will allow her to find the swan’s nest upon the reeds. Yet, as this section
continues on the speaker shifts again back to the older Ellie describing
herself sitting by the stream. As the day-dream concludes, Little Ellie puts
back on her shoes and her bonnet and heads home, but first she must stop to
check the swan’s nest upon the reeds. However, as she pushes through the trees,
she does not find the pleasant scene that she had before.
`……………………
Past the boughs she
stoops—and stops.
Lo, the wild swan had deserted—
And a rat had gnawed the
reeds. (94-96)
Ellie went home sad and
slow.
If she found the lover ever,
With his red-roan of
steeds,
Sooth I know not! But I
know
She could never show him—never,
That swan’s nest amongst
the reeds! (97-102)
The
third stanza foreshadowed the loss that Ellie was about to experience in these
last few stanzas of the poem as Ellie sends her lover off to fulfill his noble
deeds. As she sends him away, she also sends away her innocent and naïve
thoughts about finding love. While Ellie had found the perfect lover, it was
only a day-dream and it did not portray what she was ever really going to find
in the world of love.
It is understandable why Ellie had
imagined her lover to be from the medieval times. Like the classical fairy
tales of the twenty-first century, the medieval times were alluring with their
mystical stories of love. The tales of a man winning his heroines love and
exalting with his every breath that he wants nothing more in life than to be
able to love her and only her, is every girls’ dream. By understanding why
Ellie had romanticized the medieval time period, as viewers romanticize
classical fairy tales, readers can begin to understand why most of the poem was
based upon Ellie’s day-dream. The implication of the swan’s nest throughout the
first few sections of the poem enhances the idea of Ellie’s fairy tale love. As
a swan is beautiful and elegant, so is the love that Ellie hopes to find. Yet,
like most fairy tales, there is no focus on the reality behind the tale, behind
the marriage, and behind the love. By realizing that Ellie was not focusing on
the reality of things, readers can also begin to understand why the poem ends
as it does. While a medieval romance may seem mystical and seem to be a true
fantasy, Ellie does not realize what marriage truly was or is and what it holds
for her. During the medieval time most, if not all, marriages “were not based
on love” and were simply “political and social arrangements,” yet Ellie is not
able to realize any of this until the end of the poem (Marriage 1). The
inability that Ellie has to focus on the reality of marriage depicts Ellie’s innocent
and naïve nature, which also is an implication of what the swan’s nest meant at
the beginning of the poem. A swan is not only elegant, but is also innocent in
its features; the swan itself represents Ellie, as it also represents Ellie’s
longing for love.
Like the swan’s nest, however,
Ellie’s innocent and naïve nature, as well as her longing for love, does not
last throughout the entire poem. By the fourth section of the poem Ellie’s
day-dream has ended and she is abruptly brought back to the reality of life, as
she finds what has become of the swan’s nest. “Lo, the wild swan had
deserted--/And a rat had gnawed the reeds’ (95-96). As the rat has destroyed
the swan’s eggs and nest, reality has destroyed Ellie’s dreams of love. As
Ellie began to realize the love that she would find, her innocent and naïve
thoughts were destroyed with the swan eggs. The love that Ellie is to find will
not be the medieval love that she had longed for. Ellie will not be placed upon
a pedestal by her lover, but will instead be sexually objectified by her lover.
Ellie will not able to find a man who wanted to exalt her, but instead a man
that would see her as a possession. By seeing the “sexualization” of Ellie
throughout the poem readers may understand the love that Ellie is subjected to
find based upon her current circumstance(s). The love that Ellie would be
subjected to find would not be elegant and mystical, like the swan, but would
be crude and distasteful, like the rat. Ellie is sexualized by Elizabeth
throughout the poem because at this time frame women were seen as nothing more
than possessions to the men. Ellie’s thoughts of finding a fairy tale love had
to be destroyed with the swan eggs because she too had to become a possession.
Being a possession to a man versus
being exalted by a man, are two very different things. The ending of the poem
leaves readers wondering if Elizabeth had been questioning the beauty of love
and of marriage at the time that she had written the poem. Little Ellie wanted
to find a love that was worthwhile; however, this was not the love that society
had created for her. Ellie’s elegant love was destroyed by society, as the
swan’s eggs were destroyed by the rat and there was no way that Ellie would
ever be able to find that love again, just as the swan would never find her
eggs.
Works Cited:
Browning,
Elizabeth B. "The Romance of the Swan's Nest." Elizabeth Barrett
Browning: Selected Poems. Ed.
Marjorie Stone and Beverly Taylor. Ontario: Broadview Editions, 2009. 173-78. Print.
"Marriage
in the Medieval Era." Great Northern Medieval Fayre: All Things
Medieval and Renaissance.
Crackers Production, 2013. Web. 29 Oct. 2013.
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