The Wild Swans at Coole (W.B. Yeats) — NCERT Solutions

They connect with the poet’s present mood and stage of life. The autumn beauty, dry paths, October twilight, and still sky suggest quietness, ageing, and the fading of things, which reflect Yeats’s own feeling that time has passed and that life is becoming more silent and reflective. The scene outside mirrors the poet’s inner condition.

“The light tread” refers to the poet’s memory of the swans seen earlier, when their movement made him feel lighter and happier. “The sore heart” refers to his present sad, painful heart, caused by the awareness that he is ageing and that life and happiness have changed.