Wagner’s Non-Ring Operas as Limericks
Rienzi
You’d need to have a Wagner frenzy
To write a limerick on Rienzi.
The Flying Dutchman
A sailor arrives in a port
To look for a maiden to court.
He meets Daland’s daughter,
Who jumps in the water.
The romance, as it happens, was short.
Tannhäuser (Argues with Elisabeth)
"Forget my old orgies with Venus
You know there was nothing between us.
I’ll travel to Rome
And when I get home
I’ll no longer be ruled by my penis"
Lohengrin
When your husband won’t tell you his name,
Don’t treat it as sort of game,
Or soon he’ll be gone
On his boat with that swan,
And your life will be never the same.
Tristan und Isolde
Brangäne, preparing a potion,
Was suddenly struck with a notion.
She put back the brew,
Made a quick switcheroo,
And cause two acts more of commotion.
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
If you wanted to be in the guild,
You didn’t need looks or a build;
You could only take part
In the Great German Art
If they found you sufficiently skilled.
Though Walther took tips from Hans Sachs
(In that time before all those Bachs),
It was really his fervor
That moved the observer,
Although he was heterodox.
Parsifal
There are Knights who abide in the woods,
Who have plenty of shouldn’ts and shoulds,
And then there’s a lad
Who has never been bad
Who ends up in Act Three with the goods.
[Also, please visit my other blog: Alternate Tales: Great Art Repurposed.]
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