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The Pirates of Penzance
or The Slave of Duty

CLIMBING OVER ROCKY MOUNTAIN

This song was originally written for Gilbert and Sullivan's 1871 work Thespis with only a few changes in the words. The rocky rountain in Thespis was Mount Olympus


GIRLS: Climbing over rocky mountain,
Skipping rivuletand fountain,
Passing where the willows quiver
By the ever-rolling river,
Swollen with the summer rain, the summer rain

Threading long and leafy mazes
Dotted with unnumbered daisies,
Dotted, dotted with unnumbered daisies,
Scaling rough and rugged passes,
Climb the hardy little lasses,
Till the bright sea-shore they gain;

Scaling rough and rugged passes,
Climb the hardy little lasses,
Till the bright sea-shore they gain!

EDITH (or MABEL): Let us gaily tread the measure,
Make the most of fleeting leisure,
Hail it as a true ally,
Though it perish by-and-by.

GIRLS: Hail it as a true ally,
Though it perish by-and-by.

 

  EDITH: Every moment brings a treasure
Of its own especial pleasure;
Though the moments quickly die,
Greet them gaily as they fly,

GIRLS: Though the moments quickly die,
Greet them gaily as they fly.

KATE: Far away from toil and care,
Revelling in fresh sea-air,
Here we live and reign alone
In a world that's all our own.

Here, in this our rocky den,
Far away from mortal men,
We'll be queens, and make decrees -
They may honour them who please.

GIRLS: We'll be queens, and make decrees -
They may honour them who please.

Let us gaily tread the measure,
Make the most of fleeting leisure,
Hail it as a true ally,
Though it perish by-and-by.

 

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Revised February 2010
Please credit Lyric Opera San Diego when using this material.