The Green Hills of Earth final, titular verse. Heinlein wrote several fragments of lyrics and six full stanzas for the song. Moore and Kuttner also give fragments of lyrics in "Quest of the Starstone." The fragments have been filled out and additional stanzas added by the filk community. Some versions combine Heinlein's and Moore's lyrics. The song's meter allows it to be sung to a number of popular tunes, including "Amazing Grace"; "Greensleeves"; "The House of the Rising Sun"; "The Rising of the Moon" / "The Wearing of the Green"; Friedrich Schiller's "Ode to Joy" (used in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, fourth movement); "Oh My Darling,
Symphony No. 9 (Beethoven) of the first movement, a pattern also found in the "Hammerklavier" piano sonata, written a few years earlier. At times during the piece, Beethoven specifies one downbeat every three measures—perhaps because of the fast tempo—with the direction "ritmo di tre battute" (rhythm of three beats) and one beat every four measures with the direction "ritmo di quattro battute" (rhythm of four beats). Beethoven had been criticized before for failing to adhere to standard Classical form for his compositions. He used this movement to answer his critics. Normally, a scherzo is in triple time. Beethoven wrote this piece in triple time