Take a pair of gondoliers
Whom Venetian girls adore
And whose history is strange:
For in childhood, it appears,
One was left with t’other’s sire –
The result was interchange.
Take the fact that one’s a king
And his friend of humble birth
(Which is which just isn’t known)
It’s of course the natural thing
They sail off to share the throne.
They sail off to share the throne.
Ah! For your true Republican
It’s a most intriguing plan.
Take the daughter of a Duke,
Of a prince the childhood bride,
One of those we’ve spoken of.
Take the amatory fluke
That the drummer by her side
Is the object of her love.
Let his so-called mum confess
That she swapped him in the cot
For the infant prince – then you
For the general happiness
Quite a recipe have got
(There are girls to share it too,
To share it too)…
Ah! Since the plot’s an also-ran,
Hear the music if you can…
Mary Holtby from that essential guide
How to be Tremendously Tuned In to Opera
Not that we entirely agree with her about the plot of course.
