The Swan Soul (Kabir Das)

Kabir Das was a popular 15th-century Indian mystic poet and saint having written hundreds of poems. These poems, translated into English by the great Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore, were first published in 1915. Here’s one of his poems where he depicts a swan as a metaphor for the Soul.

Passage

Tell me, O Swan, your ancient tale.
From what land do you come, O Swan? to what shore will you fly?
Where would you take your rest, O Swan, and what do you seek?

Even this morning, O Swan, awake, arise, follow me!
There is a land where no doubt nor sorrow have rule: where the terror of Death is no more.
There the woods of spring are a-bloom, and the fragrant scent “He is I” is borne on the wind:
There the bee of the heart is deeply immersed, and desires no other joy.

Rabindranath Tagore. The Songs of Kabir. The Macmillan Company, 1915.