Twelve Wild Swans

Rose could feel the ghosts surrounding
Through the tears of her old nurse
Who every summer took to crying
Haunted by a secret curse

Rose inquired of her mother
From the queen came no reply
Neither from the king her father
But from her nurse this tale she pried

Oh my child you had twelve brothers
Lost to us before your birth
For a fateful wish your mother
Spoke aloud did end their mirth

"Oh how I wish I had a daughter
With skin as white as falling snow
Raven hair as black as water
Lips as red as blood on snow
For such a daughter I would barter
All my sons, I'd let them go"

No sooner had the words been spoken
In a flash the boys were gone
By a fairy witch were stolen
She turned your brothers into swans
None has seen them since that day
Since the day they flew away

Rose did up and part the castle
Leaving home and family
From now on she would endeavor
Her twelve brothers for to see
Through the forest wandered she
Following a stream to sea

By the shore as sun was setting
Twelve wild swans flew in to land
And their little sister greeting
As they transformed into man

'We swore the first maid we encountered
By our hands to murder now
Revenge for that our mother uttered"
Said Rose "Brothers break that vow"
(Brothers break that vow
Brothers break that wicked vow) chant & dance!

Then all thirteen broke bread together
Gladness in the family
Men by night, by day a feathered
Rose longed to set her brothers free



Credits
Writer(s): Susan Devor Cogan
Lyrics powered by www.musixmatch.com

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