Black Swans, The

DESCRIPTION: "The restless shadows by me flit, And day will soon be o'er." The digger sees black swans fly by as he digs gum. He's fifty miles from a town, ten from the nearest pub. As the black swans mark the end of a dull day, they will in time bring the end of life
AUTHOR: E. L. Eyre? (soure: Garland-FacesInTheFirelight-NZ)
EARLIEST DATE: 1972 (Colquhoun-NZ-Folksongs-SongOfAYoungCountry)
KEYWORDS: worker loneliness New Zealand bird
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Colquhoun-NZ-Folksongs-SongOfAYoungCountry, p. 40, "Black Swans" (1 text, 1 modern tune) (p. 23 in the 1972 edition)
Garland-FacesInTheFirelight-NZ, p. 191, "(Black Swans)" (1 text)
RECORDINGS:
Dave Calder, "Black Swans" (on NZSongYngCntry)
NOTES [34 words]: Black swans are not native to New Zealand; it was introduced from Australia, although it is now widespread. The date at which they were introduced would perhaps give a hint as to the date of this poem. - RBW
Last updated in version 5.2
File: Colq023

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