(Vol. ii., p. 475.)
Amongst the Egyptians, the SWAN was an emblem of music and musicians:
_Cygnus_ with the Latins was a common synonym for _poeta_, and we
sometimes use the expression ourselves; thus, Shakspeare is called "the
_swan_ of Avon."
This bird was sacred to Apollo, as being endued with DIVINATION,
"_because, foreseeing his happiness in death, he dies with singing and
pleasure_:"
"Cygoni non sine causa Apolini dicati sint, quod ab eo
divinationem habere videantur, qua providentes quid in morte boni
sit, cum cantu et voluptate moriantur."--Tull. _Quæst. Tusc._ 1.
c. 30.
"The dying swan, when years her temples pierce,
In music-strains breathes out her life and verse,
And, chanting her own dirge, tides on her wat'ry hearse."
Phineas Fletcher's, _Purple Island_, Canto I.