Patience

By William Schwenck Gilbert and Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan

Patience by William Schwenk Gilbert is a love poem about Reginald, who attracts the love of many women but only has eyes for Patience. Excerpt: "MAIDENS Twenty love-sick maidens we, Love-sick all against our will. Twenty years hence we shall be Twenty love-sick maidens still! Twenty love-sick maidens we, And we die for love of thee! Twenty love-sick maidens we, Love-sick all against our will. Twenty years hence we shall be Twenty love-sick maidens still! ANGELA Love feeds on hope, they say, or love will die; MAIDENS Ah, misery! ANGELA Yet my love lives, although no hope have I! MAIDENS Ah, misery!"

• Language: English
• Publisher: Good Press
• Release date: Dec 8, 2020
• ISBN: 4064066431488

Book preview

William Schwenck Gilbert, Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan

Patience

Published by Good Press, 2022

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EAN 4064066431488

Table of Contents

Dramatis Personae

Officers of the Dragoon Guards

Rapturous Maidens

Musical numbers

in Act I

in Act II

Act I

Act II

Dramatis Personae

Table of Contents

Reginald Bunthorne – a Fleshly Poet (Light Baritone)

Archibald Grosvenor – an Idyllic Poet (Baritone)

Mr. Bunthorne's Solicitor (Non-singing)

Officers of the Dragoon Guards

Table of Contents

Colonel Calverley (Baritone)

Major Murgatroyd (Baritone)

Lieut. the Duke of Dunstable (Tenor)

Rapturous Maidens

Table of Contents

The Lady Angela (Mezzo-Soprano)

The Lady Saphir (Mezzo-Soprano)

The Lady Ella (Soprano)

The Lady Jane (Contralto)

Patience – a Dairymaid (Soprano)

Chorus of Rapturous Maidens and Officers of Dragoon Guards

Musical numbers

Table of Contents

in Act I

Table of Contents

Twenty love-sick maidens we (Maidens, Angela and Ella)

Still brooding on their mad infatuation (Patience, Saphir, Angela, and Chorus)

I cannot tell what this love may be (Patience)

The soldiers of our Queen (Dragoons and Colonel)

In a doleful train (Maidens, Ella, Angela, Saphir, Dragoons, and Bunthorne)

When I first put this uniform on (Colonel and Dragoons)

Am I alone and unobserved? (Bunthorne)

Long years ago, fourteen maybe (Patience and Angela)

Prithee, pretty maiden (Patience and Grosvenor)

Though to marry you would very selfish be (Patience and Grosvenor)

Finale, Act I: Let the merry cymbals sound

in Act II

Table of Contents

On such eyes as maidens cherish (Maidens)

Sad is that woman's lot (Jane)

Turn, oh, turn in this direction (Maidens)

A magnet hung in a hardware shop (Grosvenor and Maidens)

Love is a plaintive song (Patience)

So go to him and say to him (Jane and Bunthorne)

It's clear that medieval art (Duke, Major, and Colonel)

If Saphir I choose to marry (Duke, Colonel, Major, Angela, and Saphir)

When I go out of door (Bunthorne and Grosvenor)

Finale: After much debate internal

Act I

Table of Contents

Scene: Exterior of Castle Bunthorne. Young maidens wearing aesthetic draperies are grouped about the stage. They play on lutes, mandolins, etc., as they sing, and all are in the last stage of despair. Angela, Ella and Saphir lead them.

CHORUS.  Twenty love-sick maidens we,

          Love-sick all against our will.

          Twenty years hence we shall be

          Twenty love-sick maidens still.

          Twenty love-sick maidens we,

          And we die for love of thee.

ANGELA.  Love feeds on hope, they say, or love will die;

CHORUS.    Ah, miserie!

ANGELA.  Yet my love lives, although no hope have I!

CHORUS.    Ah, miserie!

ANGELA.  Alas, poor heart, go hide thyself away,

          To weeping concords tune thy roundelay!

          Ah, miserie!

CHORUS.  All our love is all for one,

          Yet that love he heedeth not,

          He is coy and cares for none,

          Sad and sorry is our lot!

            Ah, miserie!

ELLA.    Go, breaking heart,

          Go, dream of love requited!

          Go, foolish heart,

          Go, dream of lovers plighted;

          Go, madcap heart,

          Go, dream of never waking;

          And in thy dream

          Forget that thou art breaking!

CHORUS.  Ah, miserie!

CHORUS.  Twenty love-sick maidens we, etc.

ANGELA. There is a strange magic in this love of ours! Rivals as we all are in the affections of our Reginald, the very hopelessness of our love is a bond that binds us to one another!

SAPHIR. Jealousy is merged in misery. While he, the very cynosure of our eyes and hearts, remains icy insensible – what have we to strive for?

ELLA. The love of maidens is, to him, as interesting as