The Wild Swans
Stave 4
After the darkest night,
Without even the light
Of a glow worm to ease her loneliness,
Elisa set off through the vast forest
And soon came upon
A kindly old woman.
Elisa asked if she had seen
Eleven princes on their horses.
She replied no, but eleven swans with golden crowns
Had been swimming in nearby watercourses.
With thanks and farewell,
Elisa followed a silver stream
Until she came to the open sea,
And there, in the sand,
She found eleven white feathers,
Which she gathered in her hand,
Covered with droplets of water –
The tears of the king’s only daughter.
She stood on the lonely beach,
Watching the clouds pass by
And the changing colours in the sky
Until, just before the sun started to set,
Eleven wild swans flew towards the shore,
All wearing golden crowns, gliding in a long white ribbon.
Elisa hid behind a shrub and saw
The swans ascend, flapping their great white wings.
As soon as the sun sank below the horizon,
They shed their feathers
And transformed
Into Elisa’s eleven brothers.
© Kim M. Russell, 2016
Image found on Pinterest
writing in north norfolk 