The Swan

 Image source

THE SWAN

Rainer Maria Rilke

This clumsy living that moves lumbering
as if in ropes through what is not done,
reminds us of the awkward way the swan walks.

And to die, which is the letting go
of the ground we stand on and cling to every day,

is like the swan, when he nervously lets himself down
into the water, which receives him gaily
and which flows joyfully under

and after him, wave after wave,
while the swan, unmoving and marvellously calm,
is pleased to be carried, each moment more fully grown,
with regal composure , further and further on.

 
                                     David Whyte gives a beautiful video reflection on this poem. 

Pity the recording quality is scratchy.

                                       There is another written reflection from David Whyte here