The poem
Did you too see it, drifting, all night, on the black river? Did you see it in the morning, rising into the silvery air - An armful of white blossoms, A perfect commotion of silk and linen as it leaned into the bondage of its wings; a snowbank, a bank of lilies, Biting the air with its black beak? Did you hear it, fluting and whistling A shrill dark music - like the rain pelting the trees - like a waterfall Knifing down the black ledges? And did you see it, finally, just under the clouds - A white cross Streaming across the sky, its feet Like black leaves, its wings Like the stretching light of the river? And did you feel it, in your heart, how it pertained to everything? And have you too finally figured out what beauty is for? And have you changed your life?
I honestly think this poem is extreamly hard to understand. It leaves you with question. Why would beauty or a truly honest experience of beauty ask us to change our lives?
I think she's talking about pure inspiration. (What is beauty for)
Beauty can change our view of life, and cause us to seek *more* beauty, joy, harmony.
"Swan" analysis
Heard Garrison Keillor read this on NPR today, amazing. I get how Emily Dickenson said she felt when a poem spoke to her. The end of the poem is a challenge to transcend our earthly presence and experience, thru our communion with beauty as each of us internalizes it, spititual connection with those we have loved and lost.