Preposterous Pet

A poem involving a famous person and an unlikely pet

When Bach bought a bison, an act he’d regret,

He wrongly presumed that a large-headed pet

Would possess a big brain and could learn the spinet

So he set about teaching the beast.

Tuition commenced at the start of the week,

But it soon became clear that the outlook was bleak

For a bison with hooves and no keyboard technique

Makes a most unconvincing artiste.

In view of the fact that the creature was crass

It was freed from its labours and put out to grass,

But the back lawns in Leipzig were tiny, alas,

And afforded scant fare for a feast.

With a bare patch of earth where the grass grew before

And a shattered spinet lying flat on the floor

Our well-tempered Bach was well-tempered no more

Nor in tune with his pet in the least.