A little fool lies here - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

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.

---

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 - 1791) Austria

Translator not stated

Source: 'Mozart's Starling' by Meredith J. West and Andrew P. King, [Starling Talk]