Swan song

Origin of: Swan song

Swan song

The fable that swans sing shortly before their death is extremely ancient. Plato (c.428-438 BC) makes mention of it in his Dialogues, as does Chaucer in The Parliament of Fowls c. 1380. Shakespeare alludes to the fable in both The Merchant of Venice and Othello. The actual phrase swan song as in a final or farewell performance (not necessarily before death) first appears in English in the early 19th century.