THE SWAN By 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 a 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, unoving and marvelously calm,
is pleased to be carried, each minute more fully grown, more like a king, composed, father and father on.
QUESTIONS
1. What does the first stanza of "The Swan" compare the swan's walk to? What does the rest of the poem compare the swan's swimming to?
2006-09-07
16:31:41
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2 answers
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asked by
esteban_espino2000
1