The Swan

Rainer Maria Rilke 1875 (Prague) – 1926 (Montreux)



This laboring of ours with all that remains undone,
as if still bound to it,
is like the lumbering gait of the swan.

And then our dying—releasing ourselves
from the very ground on which we stood—
is like the way he hesitantly lowers himself

into the water. It gently receives him,
and, gladly yielding, flows back beneath him,
as wave follows wave,
while he, now wholly serene and sure,
with regal composure,
allows himself to glide.

translation by Joanna Macy and Anita Barrows

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 02, 2023

25 sec read
1,315

Quick analysis:

Scheme XXX XXX AAXXXX X
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 478
Words 85
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 3, 3, 6, 1

Rainer Maria Rilke

René Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke — better known as Rainer Maria Rilke — was a Bohemian-Austrian poet and novelist, "widely recognized as one of the most lyrically intense German-language poets", writing in both verse and highly lyrical prose. more…

All Rainer Maria Rilke poems | Rainer Maria Rilke Books

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1 Comment
  • mattd.04593
    And then our dying—releasing ourselves
    from the very ground on which we stood—
    I thought this line was very beautiuful.
    LikeReply1 year ago

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"The Swan" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/29739/the-swan>.

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