From Gilbert and Sullivan's Pirates of Penzance.
Back to 'Poor Wandering One'
On to 'Stay, We Must Not Lose Our Senses'
Frederic and Mabel are now firmly in love; everybody sings. This part gets tricky. The sisters sing a song, Mabel sings a song, Frederic sings a song, and at the end they sing all three songs at once. To keep things simple, I'm not going to node the lyrics to that last part; they don't add any new lyrics, they just all sing their pieces at the same time. The whole thing is skillfully crafted to fit together perfectly.
This song does not appear in the 1983 movie version of PoP.
EDITH:
What ought we to do,
Gentle sisters, say?
Propriety, we know,
Says we ought to stay;
While sympathy exclaims,
"Free them from your tether--
Play at other games--
Leave them here together."
KATE:
Her case may, any day,
Be yours, my dear, or mine.
Let her make her hay
While the sun doth shine.
Let us compromise,
(Our hearts are not of leather.)
Let us shut our eyes,
And talk about the weather.
GIRLS:
Yes, yes, let's talk about the weather.
Chattering chorus
How beautifully blue the sky,
The glass is rising very high,
Continue fine I hope it may,
And yet it rained but yesterday.
To-morrow it may
pour again
(I hear the country wants some rain),
Yet people say, I know not why,
That we shall have a warm July.
Enter MABEL and FREDERIC
{During MABEL's solo the GIRLS continue chatter pianissimo, but
listening eagerly all the time.
SOLO--MABEL
MABEL:
Did ever maiden wake
From dream of homely
duty,
To find her daylight break
With such exceeding beauty?
Did ever maiden close
Her eyes on waking sadness,
To dream of such exceeding gladness?
FREDERIC:
Oh, yes! ah, yes! this is exceeding gladness.
GIRLS:
How beautifully blue the sky, etc.
SOLO--FREDERIC
{During this, GIRLS continue their chatter pianissimo as before,
but listening intently all the time.
FREDERIC:
Did ever pirate roll
His soul in guilty dreaming,
And wake to find that soul
With peace and virtue beaming?
ENSEMBLE
{This is where they all sing at once.}
Song: Stay, We Must Not Lose Our Senses
Back to 'Poor Wandering One'