Elvis Presley’s Bird Murder Poem Auctioned

The music industry is no stranger to impressive auctions where items that we would otherwise pay no attention to sell for exorbitant amounts only on account of the fact that they once belonged to a legend. The same goes for a poem Elvis Presley once wrote and of which he was incredibly proud, which is now part of a massive auction over at Gotta Have Rock’n’Roll.

For “just” $4,000-5,000, interested fans can bid for the original poem and, with a bit of luck, call it theirs when the auction ends. Of course, the amount of money does not guarantee that this is the only copy of the poem flying around, especially since it is known that Elvis himself wrote it down and handed it out to close friends as a token of his appreciation to them. This one used to belong to Charlie Hodge, a member of the Memphis Mafia who received it in the 1970s.

“Elvis Presley handwrote this poem and initialed it in blue ballpoint pen on his personal stationery titled ‘From the home of… Elvis Presley.’ The yellow stationery measures 5” x 5.25”. This is a poem that Elvis would recite often on stage and in his personal life, called ‘Ode to a Robin.’ He even used it on his home phone message machine recording. He wrote the poem down for several people and this one was given to his very good friend Charlie Hodge in the 1970’s. Comes with signed letter from Hodge on his personally stationery dated December 12, 1993. Estimate: $4,000 - $5,000.” a description of the poem on the website hosting the auction reads.

The poem, though short, is not without its merits, and betrays a state of mind that the rocker never let fans see when he was on stage, it has been noted. It starts off on a very positive, bright note, but ends in tragedy and death at the hand of Elvis himself, as he chooses to kill the robin that came to sing at his window, in the morning “when all sweet things are born.” Add to that the initials and Elvis’ own handwriting, and one fan willing to pay the asking price will get a piece of the late King as he truly was.

For a look at all the items included in the auction, please go here.