With silver needles and with silver thread,
The stars stitch a shroud for the dying sun.
Oh, Black Swan,
Where, oh, where has my lover gone?
I had given him a kiss of fire,
And a golden ring, and a golden ring.

Don't you hear your lover moan?
Eyes of glass, and feet of stone,
Shells for teeth and reeds for tongue,
Deep, deep, down in the river bed
he's looking for the ring.
Eyes wide open, never asleep,
He's looking for the ring, looking for the ring.

The spools unravel and the needles break.
The sun is buried and the stars weep.
Oh, Black Wave
Oh, Black Wave, take me away with you.

I will share with you my golden hair,
And my bridal crown, and my bridal crown.

Ah, take me down with you.
Take me down to my wand'ring lover
with my child unborn, with my child unborn.

"The Black Swan", from The Medium by Gian Carlo Menotti