<em>This clumsy living that moves lumbering as if in ropes through what is not done reminds us of the awkward way the swan walks</em> is a quote from the translation of the poem "The Swan", written by Rainer Maria Rilke, a Bohemian-Austrian poet and novelist. Rilke compares (clumsy) living to an awkward way a swan walks when it's not in water, its primary environment. When on land, they struggle, and Rilke indicates that we struggle in our lives too. As the rest of the poem says, when we die, we are released from the burdens of life, just like a swan who returns to water and no longer struggles.
