Never say ‘What, never?’ again
That infernal nonsense ‘Pinafore’ took America by storm.
1878
Queen Victoria 1837-1901
That infernal nonsense ‘Pinafore’ took America by storm.
1878
Queen Victoria 1837-1901
Gilbert and Sullivan’s ‘HMS Pinafore’ (1878) was surprisingly slow to get going in England, picking up speed only after Hamilton Clarke arranged some numbers for orchestra and military band at the Proms in Covent Garden. In America, however, it was a smash hit right from the start, though some people tired of it sooner than others.
abridged
THE opera ‘caught on’ in America to such an extent that it literally raged through the country. From start to finish it held the stage for seven hundred nights. In Boston USA it was no uncommon thing for people to go as many as ten and twelve times to see, and then, not content with that, they would insist upon their friends’ attendance, one and all. In a newspaper of the time — an American one — I find a notice to the effect that in one city alone a hundred thousand barrel-organs were built to play nothing but ‘Pinafore’.*
‘What never? Well, hardly ever,’ became catch phrases to an extent perfectly nauseating. One poor editor was positively compelled to forbid their use by his staff on pain of instant dismissal. ‘It has occurred twenty times in as many articles in yesterday's edition,’ he sorrowfully said to them on one occasion. ‘Never let me see it used again.’ ‘What never?’ was the unanimous question. ‘Well, hardly ever,’ replied the wretched man.
abridged
William Gilbert was well aware that ‘Pinafore’ had become over-familiar for some. In ‘The Pirates of Penzance’ the Major-General tells us that one of his many talents is that he can “whistle all the airs from that infernal nonsense Pinafore!”.
1. What is the author aiming to achieve in writing this?
2. Note any words, devices or turns of phrase that strike you. How do they help the author communicate his ideas more effectively?
3. What impression does this passage make on you? How might you put that impression into words?
Based on The English Critic (1939) by NL Clay, drawing on The New Criticism: A Lecture Delivered at Columbia University, March 9, 1910, by J. E. Spingarn, Professor of Comparative Literature in Columbia University, USA.
Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.
‘HMS Pinafore’ opened in 1878. In London popularity came slowly. In the USA it was an instant success.