Sweeney Among the Nightingales is a riddle poem. The opening verse describes a man being hanged. The other nine verses suggest the reason for the hanging.

The contrast in the first verse between "Apeneck Sweeney" and a giraffe suggests the stretching of a neck, as in a hanging.

Why the riddle? Why not say plainly what the poem is about?

If the topic were stated plainly, the reader might agree or disagree and think no more about it. As a riddle the poem offers a challenge. If the reader studies it carefully, possible meanings may emerge. Once the riddle is explained, the reader may be hooked on the wording and implications of the poem, and the poet's communication effort is done.

A grain of sand dropped into an oyster may trigger the oyster's effort to cover the sand and produce a pearl. The oyster may be imagined to be proud of the pearl. Similarly, a reader may feel a proprietary pride in the interpretation of the poem, and be all the more persuaded of its importance or its truth.

The rest of this poem suggests a guardian, like a sergeant-major, being offered a temptation and being murdered for refusing the temptation.

The first verse is:

The change from ape to giraffe suggests a hanging. Sweeney’s legs might jerk apart and his arms sag as his weight hits the rope. The zebra stripes suggest the strands of a rope around his neck. The neck swells and blotches.

The laugh suggests his defiance of the effort at corruption.