Before he met Sullivan, Gilbert wrote these absurd comic ballads for the magazine Fun: Captain Reece of The Mantelpiece, who pampers his crew with feather beds and ices, the rival curates competing to be mildest, a policeman’s verses to a little maid, Sir Guy the Crusader and many more, full of topsy-turvy logic and wicked rhymes.
Essential for Savoyards, who will spot the germs of H.M.S. Pinafore and other operas. Download the free EPUB.