The Saying 'Swan Song' - Meaning And Origin. - The Phrase Finder

Swan song

What's the meaning of the phrase 'Swan song'?

A swan song is a final composition or performance, given before dying or retirement.

What's the origin of the phrase 'Swan song'?

Te term swan song originates from the legend that, while they are mute during the rest of their lives, swans sing beautifully and mournfully just before they die.

This isn’t actually the case – swans, even the inaccurately named Mute Swans, have a variety of vocal sounds and they don’t sing before they die.

The legend was known to be false as early as the days of ancient Rome, when Pliny the Elder refuted it in Natural History, AD 77:

“Observation shows that the story that the dying swan sings is false.”

Nevertheless, poetic imagery proved to be more attractive than scientific method and many poets and playwrights made use of the fable long after Pliny’s observations. Chaucer included this line in the poem Parliament of Fowles:

The Ialous swan, ayens his deth that singeth. [The jealous swan, sings before his death]

Shakespeare, the Swan of Avon no less, used the image in The Merchant of Venice, 1596:

Portia: Let music sound while he doth make his choice; then, if he lose, he makes a swan-like end, fading in music.

The actual term ‘swan song’, with its current figurative meaning, doesn’t crop up in print until the 18th century. The Scottish cleric Jon Willison used the expression in one of his Scripture Songs, 1767, where he refers to “King David’s swan-song“.

The poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834) turned the phrase on its head in the poem On a Volunteer Singer:

Swans sing before they die; ’twere no bad thing Did certain persons die before they sing.

However many peope ever believed the ‘singing before death’ story isn’t clear but few believe it now.

‘Swan-song’ is now used figuratively and most commonly to refer to celebrated performers embarking on ‘farewell tours‘ or ‘final performances‘. Those ironic quote marks were never more appropriate than in the case of Nellie Melba, whose swan song consisted of an eight year long string of ‘final concerts’ between 1920 and 1928. This led to the popular Australian phrase – ‘more farewells than Nellie Melba’.

The history of “Swan song” in printed materials

Trend of swan song in printed material over time

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About the Author

Gary Martin

Writer and researcher on the origins of phrases and the creator of the Phrase Finder website. Over the past 26 years more than 700 million of his pages have been downloaded by readers. He is one of the most popular and trusted sources of information on phrases and idioms.

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