What did thy song bode, lady?
Hark, canst thou hear me? I will play the swan.
And die in music.
[Singing] Willow, willow, willow, –
Moor, she was chaste; she loved thee, cruel Moor.
– William Shakespeare
Othello, Act 5, Scene 2. These are Emilia’s dying words after she is stabbed by her husband Iago for telling the truth about Desdemona’s handkerchief and innocence. Emilia expresses her love for Desdemona and condemns the brutal Othello for killing a woman who truly loved him. Appropriately she sings a line from "The Willow Song" about a woman forsaken by her lover, which was sung earlier by Desdemona shortly before her death. Now Emilia dies while singing it. The reference to playing the swan and dying in music is the ancient belief that swans sing a beautiful song just before their death – hence the saying, swan song.