Matthew Arnold

Creep into thy narrow bed,

Creep, and let no more be said!

Vain thy onset! all stands fast.

Thou thyself must break at last!

Let the long contention cease!

Geese are swans, and swans are geese.

Let them have it how they will!

Thou art tired; best be still!

They out-talked thee, hissed thee, tore thee?

Better men fared thus before thee;

Fired their ringing shot and passed,

Hotly charged – and sank at last.

Chare once more, then, and be dumb!

let the victors, when they come,

When thy forts of folly fall,

Find thy body by the wall!

I am doing a literary analysis of this poem in an essay due tomorrow. The phrase that interests me and yet I can’t figure out is “Geese are swans, and swans are geese.” in s2. could someone help me with this phrase? It would help me understand the poem a lot more.