The Wild Swans at Coole Man and the Natural World Quotes Page 1

While the poem wants to make nature seem like a place that is unchanging, these lines complicate that idea. "Autumn," like spring, is a season associated with change (i.e., the end of summer and the coming of winter).

The "still sky" and the water that reflects it give an image of tranquility. The word "still" is important because it suggests that nothing is moving or changing. There is sense of permanence to this scene.

The speaker waits until the last possible moment to mention the swans. "Swans" is the last word of the first stanza. Still, they seem to dominate his attention. You'd have to focus pretty hard to count fifty-nine separate swans (they don't exactly line up to be counted, you know).