Try saying this fast 10 times...
W.S. Gilbert, The Mikado
To sit in solemn silence in a dull dark dock
In a pestilential prison, with a life-long lock
Awaiting the sensation of a short, sharp shock,
From a cheap and chippy chopper on a big black block.
What we love about this...
This is from Gilbert and Sullivan's comic opera The Mikado, one of the pair's greatest hits and a forerunner of modern musicals like Hamilton and The Phantom of the Opera. It ran for a staggering 672 performances when it opened in 1885. These lines show Gilbert's delight in word play, alliteration, and silliness while also expertly following the rules of metre and rhyme.
Lines like these charmed and amused audiences, cushioning the social and political criticisms of Gilbert's librettos as they exposed the rigid English class system, satirizing everything from hereditary peers and incompetent judges to nepotism and corruption within military and legal circles.
Best of all, it's incredibly hard to say 10 times fast, no matter how hard you try! If you can do it, send us a recording and we'll post it on our site.
About the author
W.S. Gilbert (1836-1911) was one half of the famous team of Gilbert and Sullivan, who ruled the Victorian stage for decades with their operettas, including H.M.S. Pinafore, Ruddigore, The Pirates of Penzance, Trial by Jury, Patience, and an adaptation of Tennyson's poem The Princess called Princess Ida.
To read and watch alongside...
The 1983 film The Pirates of Penzance starring Kevin Kline serves up wonderful singing and acting, and gives an authentic taste of Gilbert and Sullivan's style. Likewise, the film Topsy-Turvy from 1999, directed by Mike Leigh, shows the behind-the-scenes preparation for the 1885 premiere of The Mikado at the Savoy theatre and shows that Gilbert and Sullivan's hugely successful collaboration was often fraught and tense, as Arthur Sullivan struggled to be recognized as a serious composer and Gilbert as a serious writer.
Although these lines from The Mikado are not strictly speaking 'nonsense' verse, they bear some connection to that genre. Some examples by Gilbert and Sullivan's contemporaries are Edward Lear's The Owl and the Pussy-Cat and Lewis Carroll's Jabberwocky.
A Short, Sharp Shock is the title of a 1990 fantasy novel by Kim Stanley Robinson.
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Project Gutenberg: https://www.gutenberg.org/
Standard Ebooks: https://standardebooks.org/
The Poetry Foundation: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/
“Five Tips to Get Reading Again if You’ve Struggled During the Pandemic,” The Conversation (8 January 2021): https://theconversation.com/five-tips-to-get-reading-again-if-youve-struggled-during-the-pandemic-152904
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