To The Male Mute Swan At Melbourne Zoo Poem by Francis Duggan

The muddy waters of Royal Park you grace
And you are a stranger in a foreign place
Your reflection in these waters cannot show
And mud stains on your coat once white as snow.

Such a heartless thing that man has done to you
He clipped your wings to keep you in his zoo
For benefit of man you are on show
And this the only kind of life you know.

They've left you here alone without a mate
Without a chance your image to create
A lonely life for you without a friend
Without a wife and family to defend.

But seeing you here now take me far away
To distant Land and to a bygone day
Your kin bird on Finnow swam to and fro
His reflection on the clear water below.

There were no mud stains on his coat of white
And he looked beautiful in the sunlight
A king in his own kingdom living free
And as fine a sight as one might wish to see.

Man clipped your wings to keep you in his zoo
But such a place doesn't seem worthy of you
But seeing you here now take me far away
To a distant Land and to a by gone day.