A swan: ‘I have looked upon these brilliant creatures, and now my heart is sore’ | Helen Sullivan

To limn is to “depict or describe in painting or words” It can also mean “to suffuse with light”, or outline: the full moon limned the dark river and the white feathers of a swan upon it. Limn: it comes from luminare, to make light, and illuminate, as in to illuminate, or decorate, a manuscript.

The most famous swan poem, The Wild Swans at Coole , is about this feeling of having changed between one year and another.