No Swan So Fine

No Swan So Fine
In Becoming Marianne Moore: the early poems, 1907-1924, Robin G. Schulz

identifies Marianne Moore’s earlier works are those created among 1907-1924.
Traditionally, the scholars define her earlier work is distinguished by great precision
of observation and language, ornate diction, and complex stanza and prosodic
patterns. While, her later work is much less ornate, and in revising her poetry, she
tended to simplify and shorten. Written in 1932 and published on Poetry Magazine,
“No Swan So Fine” should be recognized by her later work, but I think the poem also
own her earlier features.
“No (1) water (2) so (1) still (1) as (1) the (1)
dead (1) fountains (2) of (1) Versailles.” (2) No (1) swan (1),
with (1) swart (1) blind (1) look (1) askance (2)
and (1) gondoliering (4) legs (1), so (1) fine (1)
as (1) the (1) chinz (1) china (2) one (1) with (1) fawn- (1)
brown (1) eyes (1) and (1) toothed (1) gold (1)
collar (2) on (1) to (1) show (1) whose (1) bird (1) it (1) was (1).
Lodged (1) in (1) the (1) Louis (2) Fifteenth (2)

candelabrum-tree (5) of (1) cockscomb- (2)
tinted (2) buttons (1), dahlias (3),
sea-urchins (3), and (1) everlastings (4),
it (1) perches (2) on (1) the (1) branching (2) foam (1)
of (1) polished (2) sculptured (2)
flowers (1)—at (1) ease (1) and (1) tall (1). The (1) king (1) is (1) dead (1).
The poem is composed with two stanzas and each stanza contains seven lines.
Different with the accentual verse which are stress-timed, “No Swan So Fine” is a
syllabic verse, more precisely, it takes a stanzaic form. The number of syllables is
different among lines in the same stanza, but the corresponding lines of each stanza
have same syllables:7-8-6-8-8-5-9. Same as the other modernism poets like William
Carlos Williams and Amy Lowell, Marianne Moore used her syllabic technique to
minimize or break the sense of regularity. There is no fixed metrical scheme in “No
Swan So Fine”. Although my annotation does not present the whole rhyme scheme
of this poem, we can still observe that Marianne More emphasizes consonance
(alliteration and slant rhyme) and near rhyme (fawn and brown) than true rhyme.
From my own point of view, the recurring repetition of consonants /d/ and /z/ is not
only for musical and natural flowing pronunciation effect but also gives a sense of
stability and solidity for the reader. This is coincident with Moore’s poetic idea of
precision. The length of the different lines is also variable. At the same time, she
insects the sense group by implementing enjambment, which ending lines with
unimportant words or hyphenation. The contemporary modernist poets concentrate
on words, lines, clauses or images, but Marrianne Moore takes entire stanza as unit.
Given that Marianne Moore stresses the importance of prose writing, I think her
style of poem creation is also tainted with traditional prose writing. When we write a
prose, it is the macro-textual structure but not micro-relationship among lines or
words we stress more. So, I think “No Swan So Fine” is inter-stanzaic but not intra-
stanzaic. (I noticed these two terms in an article and I searched its meaning on
Internet, the former means “among the different stanzas in a poem”, the latter means
“in a same stanza” but I am not sure this definition is right or not) The irregular
rhyme, enjambment, the high variety of line length and syllabic stanzas are all
devices serve to the undermine the role of lines as basic unit of the poem, channel
the readers’ attention to stanzas and the break of traditional poetic forms. The
quotation from others is also one of the formal features of Marrianne Moore’s poetic
works.
Secondly is about the thematic features. Animals are common images in
Marrianne Moore’s poems. The dominant image in this poem is swan. But in the
first stanza, the author demonstrates two kinds of swan: the real, living swan and the
artificial swan possessed by French King. On the surface, the author declares no
swan is so fine as the artificial swan. The real swan is “swart with blind askance” but
the artificial swan is colorful with fawn-brown eyes. Fawn means deer cubs, it is
obvious that the artificial swan is more attracting than the real swan. However, the
artificial swan is controlled by the “toothed gold collar”, which is sharp and incisive.
It is dangerous and harmful to animals. At the same time, the collar aims at showing
“whose bird it was” symbolizing possession and domination. On the contrary, the
real swan could swim freely in nature with their gondoliering legs. Therefore, it is
vague to define which swan is fine actually. The poet’s ambiguous viewpoint forms
evident contrast with the precise depiction of the swan and candelabrum-tree
throughout the whole poem. In the second stanza, the artificial swan perches on the
luxurious candelabrum-tree “at ease and tall.” The king is dead, also the feudal
empire is ruined. However, the chinz China swan will be everlasting and exist
forever. As a symbol of art, it transcends death. Although the modernists determine
to break the tradition of Romanticists, there are still some mutual points. The chinz
china swan is similar with the Grecian urn in Keats’s ode. The other important theme
of this poem, from my own perspective is change and innovation. Same as William
Carlos Williams, Marianne Moore can be defined as a pragmatic poet. The 20 th
century with industrialization is the turning point of modern America, under such
social climate, their poems are closely associated with technology and science. The
king is dead, the new epoch is coming, the traditional poetic values should be re-
defined in an innovative approach.

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No Swan So Fine

In Becoming Marianne Moore: the early poems, 1907-1924, Robin G. Schulz

Lodged (1) in (1) the (1) Louis (2) Fifteenth (2)

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