The Swan 
Prince Henry, son of King John, when 
told that his dying father had been singing, 
muses thus : 
Tis strange that death should sing : 
I am the cygnet to this pale faint swan 
Who chants a doleful hymn to his own death.! 
In the scene wherein Othello discovers the 
double-dyed villainy of Iago, a touching 
incident is the wandering language of the 
faithful dying Emilia, whose mind goes 
back to her beloved mistress : 
What did thy song bode, lady ? 
Hark, canst thou hear me? I will play the swan, 
And die in music. [Singing] Willow, willow, willow.? 
More cheerful is the use of the legend 
by Portia when Bassanio stands before the 
caskets, and she, deeply interested in the 
result, commands 
Let music sound while he doth make his choice ; 
Then, if he lose, he makes a swan-like end, 
Fading in music.® 
jalous swan, ayens his deth that singeth.” Parlement of 
Foules, 342. 
1 King John, v. vii. 20. * Othello, v. il. 249. 
3 Merchant of Venice, 111. 1. 43. 
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