Klage an den Mond (Lament to the Moon) (D. 436) of 1816 begins as a lovely little strophic song: in the lilting, warm, triple-time F major of the first verse, the singer hymns the moon, the companion of his happy youth. After a sweet and supple little piano interlude, the second verse begins as the first had but gradually winds down as the moon now gazes upon the singer's unhappy tears. And without any piano interlude at all, the third verse turns to D minor and a slowly rocking triple time as the singer predicts his own approaching death. In three short verses, the poem has moved from the past through the present to the future, and Schubert's music has followed it from cheerful strophic setting to sorrowful through-composed setting.

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