A Leapling Song
In this snippet from a 19th-century comic masterpiece, a young man's hopes of marriage are dashed when he learns his true birthday: 29 February
W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan, The Pirates of Penzance
The Story So Far: Frederic, at the end of his 21st year, is released from servitude to a band of pirates and believes himself free to marry his beloved Mabel. However, he learns that he was in fact born on February 29th, and so is still apprenticed to the Pirates after all, technically for another 63 years—a delightful paradox, as the Pirate King explains:
For some ridiculous reason, to which, however, I've no desire to be disloyal, Some person in authority, I don't know who, very likely the Astronomer Royal, Has decided that, although for such a beastly month as February, twenty-eight days as a rule are plenty, One year in every four his days shall be reckoned as nine and twenty. Through some singular coincidence—I shouldn't be surprised if it were owing to the agency of an ill-natured fairy -- You are the victim of this clumsy arrangement, having been born in leap-year, on the 29th of February; And so, by a simple arithmetical process, you'll easily discover, That though you've lived twenty-one years, yet, if we go by birthdays, you're only five and a little bit over! Ha! ha! ha! ha! Ho! ho! ho! ho!
What we love about this excerpt…
This is farce at its best. We love how the solemn verse sets a serious, almost legalistic tone that gradually builds to a completely ridiculous climax. By the end, the song also neatly skewers the Victorian insistence on ‘duty’.
You can watch this song being sung very entertainingly in a clip from the 1983 film version of The Pirates of Penzance here.
Will Mabel wait for Frederic to finish his indenture? You can find out by reading the entire operetta here.
About the Authors
W.S. Gilbert (1836-1911) wrote the words and Arthur Sullivan (1842-1900) composed the music for the fourteen comic operas they wrote over the period 1871-96, including H.M.S. Pinafore, The Mikado, The Pirates of Penzance, and The Gondoliers, some of these enjoying tremendous success, with runs of over 500 performances.
Curators’ Corner
Today’s selection was suggested by Steve King, from his collection ‘Today in Literature.’
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