The Lovesick Swan
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This is a picture of a swan that lives in Hastings, a town on the South Coast of England. As you can see in the picture, the swan is swimming in a lake, and behind it, you can see some swan-shaped pedalo boats, with some people in them.
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I find this picture very moving, because every time I visit Hastings, the swan is always alone in this lake, swimming with the swan-shaped boats. I think the swan has a broken heart and that it has lost its lover.
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Swans are very romantic birds. You can see in the smaller picture that swans in love make a heart shape with their necks. Swans are well known for having only one partner in their lives. If this partner dies, then sometimes the swan will take a new partner. If not, it will live a life of loneliness. The poor swan in my picture will never find a new partner unless he moves away from the lake and meets some real swans. But I don’t think he ever will!
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Because of an old tradition, the Queen owns all the swans in the UK, and the only people who are allowed to eat a swan are the Royal family. You will never see ‘swan’ on an English menu!
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Swans move in a slow, proud manner, and they seem to live a life of leisure. Because of these things, we have a phrasal verb in English – to swan around. If you say that someone is swanning around, you mean that they are moving in a dramatic, self-important manner. For example, we could say ‘The actress arrived at the party and swanned around all evening as if she was the most important person in the world!’
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The sad swan in my picture doesn’t seem to swan around – he mostly just sits on the water looking miserable. I think there’s a lesson for us all here – make the most of life no matter what it brings!
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If I ever see the swan with a new partner, I promise I’ll let you know straightaway! Anyway, let’s cheer up and move on now to this week’s audio word study. If you are a subscriber to my audio lessons, you can also hear and download the audio file in the word study. subscribe here