The white swan—with its long， graceful neck—is among the most beautiful of birds. The swan is mostly silent through its life. It floats quietly on the water， unable to sing sweet songs like most other birds.

In ancient times， however， people believed that the swan was given a special gift of song at the end of its life. They believed a swan sings a most beautiful song just before it dies.

The ancient Greek philosopher Socrates talked of this more than 2300 years ago. Socrates explained that the swan was singing because it was happy. The bird was happy because it was going to serve the Greek God Apollo. Swans were holy to Apollo， the god of poetry and song.

The story of the swans last song found a place in the works of other writers， including the early English writers Chaucer and Shakespeare.

And， the expression swan song has long been a part of the English language. At first， swan song meant the last work of a poet， musician or writer. Now， it means the final effort of any person. Someones swan song usually is also considered that persons finest work.

A political expression with a similar meaning is the last hurrah. The expression may be used to describe a politicians last campaign， his final attempt to win the cheers and votes of the people. The last hurrah also can mean the last acts of a politician， before his term in office ends.

Writer Edwin OConnor made the expression popular in 1956. He wrote a book about the final years in the political life of a long-time mayor of Boston， Massachusetts. He called his book， The Last Hurrah.

Some language experts say the expression came from a name given to noisy supporters of Andrew Jackson—Americas seventh president. They cheered hurrah so loudly for Andy Jackson during his presidential campaign that they became known as the hurrah boys.

Jacksons hurrah boys also played a part in the election to choose the next president. Jacksons choice was his vice president， Martin VanBuren.

A newspaper of the time reported that VanBuren was elected president， in its words： “…by the hurrah boys， and those who knew just enough to shout hurrah for Jackson.” So， President Jackson really heard his last hurrahs in the campaign of another candidate， the man who would replace him in the White House.

swan song 是天鵝臨死時的叫聲，意指絕筆，最后的作品。它是個古老的成語，源遠(yuǎn)流長。早在公元前6世紀(jì)，古希臘寓言作家伊索的寓言故事中，就有“天鵝臨死才唱歌”的說法。古羅馬政治家、著作家西塞羅在其《德斯肯倫別墅哲學(xué)談》等論文中，就使用了“天鵝之歌”來比喻臨死哀歌。在英國，喬叟、莎士比亞等偉大詩人、劇作家，都使用過這個成語典故。這個成語用于比喻某位詩人、作家、作曲家臨終前的一部作品，或者是某個演員、歌唱家演藝生涯中最后一次演出。例如：All the tickets have been sold for the singers performance in Paris this week—the public clearly believes that this will be her swan song.（這位歌唱家本星期在巴黎演唱的全部門票都銷售一空——顯然，公眾認(rèn)為這將是她的告別演出。）而現(xiàn)在，它可以表示任何人的最后成就。