Alfred, Lord Tennyson's poem, "The Dying Swan":
The plain was grassy, wild and bare,
Wide, wild, and open to the air,
Which had built up everywhere
An under-roof of doleful gray.
With an inner voice the river ran,
Adown it floated a dying swan,
And loudly did lament.
It was the middle of the day.
Ever the weary wind went on,
And took the reed-tops as it went.
The full poem is here. Josh Rothman remembers ballerina Anna Pavlova's signature dance, "The Dying Swan" from 1907:
[Pavlova] died, at 49, holding her costume from "The Dying Swan"; her last words were, "Play the last measure very softly." Following ballet tradition, the next day's show went on as scheduled, with a spotlight drifting around the stage where she would have danced during "The Dying Swan."
(Video above of Yo-Yo Ma and L.A. dancer Lil Buck performing "The Swan" by Camille Saint-Saëns, filmed by Spike Jonze. )
The Dish 