June 21, 2025
The Swing by Robert Louis Stevenson
The Swing
How do you like to go up in a swing,
Up in the air so blue?
Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing
Ever a child can do!
Up in the air and over the wall,
Till I can see so wide,
Rivers and trees and cattle and all
Over the countryside—
Till I look down on the garden green,
Down on the roof so brown—
Up in the air I go flying again,
Up in the air and down!
By Robert Louis Stevenson - Source: A Child's Garden of Verses
Invitation: “Till I can see so wide…”
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While the prospect of soaring sounds delightful, a lingering fear of swings from my childhood persists. Now, as an adult on my second day of retirement, I am exploring alternative ways to experience the sensation of being among the clouds. Numerous possibilities await me, offering a veiw above the treetops from which to observe the beauty of life's journey.
It's a blessing and I am so grateful.
As we begin summer in the Northern hemisphere, it seems that being on a swing is a quintessential summertime activity for children. And, this poem encourages me to consider that being on a swing is not for children only. And, also for those who are children at heart.
How do you like to go up in a swing,
Up in the air so blue?
I had not thought of how a child might see the sky when swinging upward, and seeing things below when swinging downward -- to see so wide I am inspired to think of perspective and how one gains a different perspective, a different view, a higher vision. Surely now in the midst of the chaos in DC and around the world with persistent wars and the threat of more war, looking up to the sky, what might be possible beyond this current US Administration and the dictators provoking violence and wars, is a helpful, likely, essential thing to do. Look up.