I once knew a poet   Lived before his time   He and his dog, Spooner   Listen while he'd rhyme      Words to make you happy   Words to make you cry   Then one day the poet   Suddenly did die      But he left behind a closet   Filled with verse and rhyme   Through some strange transaction   One was printed in the Times      And everybody's searchin'   For the king of underground   Well, they found him down in Florida   With a tombstone for a crown      Everybody knows a line   From his book that cost four ninety nine   I wonder if he knows he's doin'   Quite this fine      'Cause his books are all best sellers   And his poems were turned to song   Had his brother on a talk show   Though they never got along      And now he's called immortal   Yes, he's even taught in school   They say, he used his talents   A most proficient tool      But he left all of his royalties   To Spooner, his old hound   Growin' old on steak and bacon   In a doghouse, ten feet 'round      And everybody wonders   Did he really lose his mind   No, he was just a poet who lived before his time   He was just a poet who lived before his time