The Complete Plays of Gilbert and Sullivan Part 35

Oh joy, oh rapture unforeseen, The clouded sky is now serene, The G.o.d of day--the orb of love, Has hung his ensign high above, The sky is all ablaze.

With wooing words and loving song, We'll chase the lagging hours along, And if { he finds } the maiden coy, I find We'll murmur forth decorous joy, In dreamy roundelay.

CAPT. For he's the Captain of the Pinafore.

ALL. And a right good captain too!

CAPT. And though before my fall I was captain of you all, I'm a member of the crew.

ALL. Although before his fall, etc.

CAPT. I shall marry with a wife, In my humble rank of life! (turning to BUT.) And you, my own, are she-- I must wander to and fro; But wherever I may go, I shall never be untrue to thee!

ALL. What, never?

CAPT. No, never!

ALL. What, never!

CAPT. Hardly ever!

ALL. Hardly ever be untrue to thee.

Then give three cheers, and one cheer more For the former Captain of the Pinafore.

BUT. For he loves Little b.u.t.tercup, dear Little b.u.t.tercup, Though I could never tell why; But still he loves b.u.t.tercup, poor Little b.u.t.tercup, Sweet Little b.u.t.tercup, aye!

ALL. For he loves, etc.

SIR JOSEPH. I'm the monarch of the sea, And when I've married thee (to HEBE), I'll be true to the devotion that my love implants, HEBE. Then good-bye to his sisters, and his cousins, and his aunts, Especially his cousins, Whom he reckons up by dozens, His sisters, and his cousins, and his aunts!

ALL. For he is an Englishman, And he himself hath said it, And it's greatly to his credit That he is an Englishman!

CURTAIN

IOLANTHE

OR

THE PEER AND THE PERI

DRAMATIS PERSONAE

THE LORD CHANCELLOR EARL OF MOUNTARARAT EARL TOLLOLLER PRIVATE WILLIS (of the Grenadier Guards) STREPHON (an Arcadian Shepherd) QUEEN OF THE FAIRIES IOLANTHE (a Fairy, Strephon's Mother)

FAIRIES: CELIA LEILA FLETA

PHYLLIS (an Arcadian Shepherdess and Ward of Chancery)

ACT I

An Arcadian Landscape

ACT II

Palace Yard, Westminster

ACT I

SCENE.--An Arcadian Landscape. A river runs around the back of the stage. A rustic bridge crosses the river.

Enter Fairies, led by Leila, Celia, and Fleta. They trip around the stage, singing as they dance.

CHORUS.

Tripping hither, tripping thither, n.o.body knows why or whither; We must dance and we must sing Round about our fairy ring!

SOLO--CELIA.

We are dainty little fairies, Ever singing, ever dancing; We indulge in our vagaries In a fas.h.i.+on most entrancing.

If you ask the special function Of our never-ceasing motion, We reply, without compunction, That we haven't any notion!

CHORUS.

No, we haven't any notion!

Tripping hither, etc.

SOLO--LEILA.

If you ask us how we live, Lovers all essentials give-- We can ride on lovers' sighs, Warm ourselves in lovers' eyes, Bathe ourselves in lovers' tears, Clothe ourselves with lovers' fears, Arm ourselves with lovers' darts, Hide ourselves in lovers' hearts.

When you know us, you'll discover That we almost live on lover!

CHORUS.

Yes, we live on lover!

Tripping hither, etc.

(At the end of Chorus, all sigh wearily.)

CELIA. Ah, it's all very well, but since our Queen banished Iolanthe, fairy revels have not been what they were!

LEILA. Iolanthe was the life and soul of Fairyland. Why, she wrote all our songs and arranged all our dances! We sing her songs and we trip her measures, but we don't enjoy ourselves!

FLETA. To think that five-and-twenty years have elapsed since she was banished! What could she have done to have deserved so terrible a punishment?

LEILA. Something awful! She married a mortal!

FLETA. Oh! Is it injudicious to marry a mortal?

LEILA. Injudicious? It strikes at the root of the whole fairy system! By our laws, the fairy who marries a mortal dies!

CELIA. But Iolanthe didn't die!

(Enter Fairy Queen.)

QUEEN. No, because your Queen, who loved her with a surpa.s.sing love, commuted her sentence to penal servitude for life, on condition that she left her husband and never communicated with him again!

LEILA. That sentence of penal servitude she is now working out, on her head, at the bottom of that stream!