I dropped my Stradivarius,
It landed on the floor;
In pieces now quite various
It won’t play any more.
It played works very serious
By Mendelssohn and Bach,
And bird song quite delirious
Of the ascending lark.
In anthems most victorious
It stood and played its part;
In opera grand and glorious
It stirred both mind and heart.
It played alone, precarious,
Begged crusts by city walls;
And in quartets gregarious
Charmed dukes in marbled halls.
These melodies imperious
Its strings will sound no more;
As now its pieces various
Lay silent on the floor.