The Swans of the Nore

The Swans of the Nore — (F major)

Two swans on the Nore, by the castle they glide Their white plumes reflect in the water’s clear skies. Mute they might seem, but at the day’s close One swan will be singing, for keenly she knows

The time it is coming, when she must away — Her song it is written, the prayer she will pray To greet the great light that forever will shine Far beyond the bright lakes, past the forests of time.

As they bobbed on the river, their heads were inclined, In the love knot of ages, their necks were entwined. “Now I must away, for this night I will fly Far beyond the dark waters that mirror the sky.

“The distance is great, past the cloak of stardust — For I hear that voice call me, and follow I must”. The lyre of the winds in the void of deep space It called gentle to her, she flew without trace.

He heard on the waters the sweet echoes sound As she sang of the beauty that her flight had found. Where the bridge in the moonlight, reflected below One swan in his plumage, the colour of snow.

And no more they will show me, as often before Their grace and their beauty, the swans of the Nore.

Their grace and their beauty, the swans of the Nore.

— © Frank Callery, August 30th, 2017.

Notes: I was thinking of the hen swan flying off to Cygnus (the Swan) the northern constellation lying on the plane of the Milky Way. It derives its name from the Latinized Greek word for swan. The swan is one of the most recognizable constellations of the northern summer and autumn, and it features a prominent asterism, or pattern of stars, known as the Northern Cross. Cygnus was among the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy, and it remains one of the 88 modern constellations. Cygnus contains Deneb one of the brightest stars in the night sky. As a result of the Kepler Mission we now know that many star systems in Cygnus have known planets.