Mozart's Starling's Epitaph

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the man (as opposed to the cockatoo), was buried in an unmarked pauper's grave on a rainy December 5, 1791. His pet starling, who had died years before, received a first class funeral and a grave marked with a headstone. The headstone engraving (see below) was written by Mozart himself. As you read in my post from yesterday, this little starling read Mozart's mind as the composer walked by a pet store and whistled the theme from a concerto Mozart was composing in his head at the time.

Mozart's Starling's Epitaph

A little fool lies here
Whom I held dear-
A starling in the prime
Of his brief time
Whose doom it was to drain
Death's bitter pain.
Thinking of this, my heart
Is riven apart.
Oh reader! Shed a tear,
You also, here.
He was not naughty, quite,
But gay and bright,
And under all his brag
A foolish wag.
This no one can gainsay
And I will lay
That he is now on high,
And from the sky,
Praises me without pay
In his friendly way.
Yet unaware that death
Has choked his breath,
And thoughtless of the one
Whose rime is thus well done.

Read more about
Mozart and his musical bird