Four short lines, and they refuse to explain themselves. An old man arrives with porridge and nothing more. A swan, described as having "little hopes about down," receives £60 for her neck and a place to stay in a field. Then comes the odd final judgment: she "would not give bedding like a fool." The title, "Downer," puns on the soft down of feathers and on something gloomy or deflating.
The poem seems to hint at a bleak bargain, where a bird's body is turned into goods like pillows and bedding, and she is paid a small sum and put out to pasture. That is an inference from the imagery, since the poem never says it outright. The tone is dry and slightly absurd, with fairy-tale flatness over something faintly sad. The speaker doesn't openly show feeling, but the cool, almost deadpan delivery suggests wry sympathy for the swan, whose refusal feels stubborn and dignified, even if the poem calls it foolish.