The Silver Swan

Listen to:

The Silver Swan (:36)

by Orlando Gibbons

performed by Bob Gonzalez, rhapsode

Text of Poem

The silver swan, who living had no note,

When death approached, unlocked her silent throat;

Leaning her breast against the reedy shore,

Thus sung her first and last, and sung no more:

“Farewell, all joys; Oh death, come close mine eyes;

More geese than swans now live, more fools than wise.”