the Swan of Avon
/ðə ˌswɒn əv ˈeɪvn/
/ðə ˌswɑːn əv ˈeɪvn/
- a nickname for William Shakespeare. It was invented by Ben Jonson in a poem he wrote in the First Folio. The phrase refers to the swans (= large white water birds with long necks) on the River Avon at Stratford, where Shakespeare was born, and also to the ancient Greek belief that the souls of poets pass into swans.
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the Swan of Avon