The Wild Swans at Coole

The Wild Swans at Coole is the name of two collections of poetry by W. B. Yeats, published in 1917 and 1919.

Publication history

The Wild Swans at Coole, a collection of twenty-nine poems and the play At the Hawk's Well, was first published by the Cuala Press in November 1917. The title poem of the collection had first appeared in the Little Review in June of that year. Macmillan (London and New York) republished the poems in March 1919 without the play but with an additional seventeen poems. The completed volume, also called The Wild Swans at Coole, represents the "middle stage" of Yeats' writing and is concerned, amongst other themes, with Irish nationalism and the creation of an Irish aesthetic.

Poems in The Wild Swans at Coole (1917)

"The Wild Swans at Coole"
"Men Improve with the Years"
"The Collar-Bone of a Hare"
"Lines Written in Dejection"
"A Thought from Propertius"
"Broken Dreams"
"A Deep-sworn Vow"
"Presences"
"The Balloon of the Mind"
"To a Squirrel at Kyle-na-gno"
"On being asked for a War Poem"
"In Memory"
"Upon a Dying Lady"
"Ego Dominus Tuus"
"The Scholars"

Wild Swans

Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China is a family history that spans a century, recounting the lives of three female generations in China, by Chinese writer Jung Chang. First published in 1991, Wild Swans contains the biographies of her grandmother and her mother, then finally her own autobiography. The book won two awards: the 1992 NCR Book Award and the 1993 British Book of the Year. The book has been translated into 37 languages and sold over 13 million copies.

Synopsis

Chang's Grandmother's story

The book starts by relating the biography of Chang's grandmother (Yu-fang). From the age of two, she had bound feet. As the family was relatively poor, her father schemed to have her taken as a concubine to a high-ranking warlord General Xue Zhi-heng, in order to gain status, which was hugely important in terms of quality of life. After a wedding ceremony to the General, who already had a wife and many concubines, the young girl was left alone in a wealthy household with servants, and did not see her "husband" again for six years. Despite her luxurious surroundings, life was tense as she feared the servants and the wife of the General would report rumors or outright lies to him. She was allowed to visit her parent's home, but never allowed to spend the night.

Wild Swans (ballet)

Wild Swans is a ballet by Soviet-born Australian composer Elena Kats-Chernin.

The story is based on The Wild Swans by Hans Christian Andersen, and tells the tale of Eliza, a princess whose wicked-witch stepmother has changed Eliza's eleven brothers into swans. Eliza must knit magic shirts from stinging nettles in order to break the spell and transform her brothers back into human form. With its basis in a fairy tale, the ballet follows in the tradition of Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker and Swan Lake, with ballet scores by Russian-born composers Prokofiev and Stravinsky also acknowledged influences.

The ballet was commissioned by the Australian Ballet and the Sydney Opera House. The score was completed in 2002 in collaboration with choreographer Meryl Tankard, who also worked with Kats-Chernin on part of the opening ceremony for the 2000 Sydney Olympics. It was given its premiere by the Australian Ballet at the Sydney Opera House on 29 April 2003.

Wild Swans Concert Suite

Kats-Chernin arranged a 12-movement concert suite from the ballet score. This was recorded by the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra under Ola Rudner, with soprano Jane Sheldon, in 2004 and released on the ABC Classics label along with the composer's Piano Concerto and Mythic. The suite features prominent parts for soprano soloist; percussion, in particular the xylophone, and alto saxophone.

Wild Swans (disambiguation)

Wild Swans may refer to:

See also