Song Lyric of the Day (Yip Harburg, on the Dour Profits of Genius)

"Mozart died a pauper

Heine lived in dread

Foster died in Bellevue

Homer begged for bread

Genius pays off handsomely—

After you are dead.” —Lyricist E. Y. (Yip) Harburg (The Wizard of Oz), quoted in “Good Vibrations: Sarah Ruhl and ‘Finian’s Rainbow’ Score,” The New Yorker, November 30, 2008