Editing Major-General's Song (section)

==Lyrics==
{{listen
| type         = music
| filename     = Sullivan - The Pirates of Penzance - I am the very model of a modern Major-General (Baker, 1921).mp3
| title        = Major-General's Song
| description  = [[George Baker (baritone)|George Baker]] sings the "I am the very model of a modern Major-General", conducted by [[George W. Byng]] (1920)
}}
[[File:Pirates of penzance restoration.jpg|right|thumb|1880 poster]]

{{blockquote|<poem>
I am the very model of a modern [[Major general (United Kingdom)|Major-Gineral]],{{#tag:ref|Gilbert wrote "Gineral", which rhymes with mineral.|group=lower-alpha}}
I've information [[Linnaean taxonomy|vegetable, animal, and mineral]],
I know the [[List of English monarchs|kings of England]], and I quote [[The Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World|the fights historical]]
From [[Battle of Marathon|Marathon]] to [[Battle of Waterloo|Waterloo]], in order categorical;{{#tag:ref|This is a reference to ''[[The Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World]]'' by Sir [[Edward Shepherd Creasy]] (1851). This classic military history describes the great battles of the world, from "Marathon to Waterloo". When the Major-General says that he can name these "in order categorical", he is saying that he will organise the information not merely in a simple order, such as chronological order, but by category – sea battles vs. land battles, etc.<ref>Benford, p. 55</ref>|group=lower-alpha}}
I'm very well acquainted, too, with matters mathematical,
I understand equations, both the [[linear equation|simple]] and [[quadratic equation|quadratical]],
About [[binomial theorem]] I'm teeming with a lot o' news,
With many cheerful facts about [[Pythagorean theorem|the square of the hypotenuse]].

I'm very good at [[integral calculus|integral]] and [[differential calculus|differential]] calculus;
I know the [[binomial nomenclature|scientific names]] of beings [[animalcule|animalculous]]:
In short, in matters vegetable, animal, and mineral,
I am the very model of a modern Major-Gineral.<!-- Please do not respell.  See the note above. -->

I know our mythic history, [[King Arthur]]'s and Sir [[Caradoc]]'s;
I answer hard [[Acrostic (puzzle)|acrostics]], I've a pretty taste for [[paradox]],
I quote in [[elegiac]]s all the crimes of [[Elagabalus|Heliogabalus]],
In [[conic section|conics]] I can floor peculiarities [[parabola|parabolous]];
I can tell undoubted [[Raphael]]s from [[Gerrit Dou|Gerard Dows]] and [[Johan Zoffany|Zoffanies]],{{#tag:ref|Raphael, Dow, and Zoffany lived in three different centuries and painted in different styles; distinguishing their works would not be difficult.<!-- PLEASE ADD a SOURCE for this. -->|group=lower-alpha}}
I know the croaking chorus from ''[[The Frogs]]'' of [[Aristophanes]]!
Then I can hum a [[fugue]] of which I've heard the music's din afore,{{#tag:ref|The Major-General claims to be able to hum a fugue, but because a fugue contains more than one musical line playing simultaneously in [[counterpoint]],<ref>Leonard G. Ratner, ''Classic Music: Expression, Form, and Style'' (London: Collier Macmillan Publishers, 1980), p. 263.</ref> humming all the parts of a fugue simultaneously is impossible.<ref name=Benford57>Benford, p. 57</ref>|group=lower-alpha}}
And whistle all the [[Air (music)|airs]] from that infernal nonsense ''[[H.M.S. Pinafore|Pinafore]]''.

Then I can write a washing bill in [[Babylonian language|Babylonic]] [[cuneiform]],
And tell you ev'ry detail of [[Caratacus|Caractacus]]'s uniform:{{#tag:ref|In [[John Henry Foley]]'s 1859 sculpture, Caractacus is only wearing a loincloth, and so knowing the details of his "uniform" is not a great achievement.<ref name=Benford57/><ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.old-print.com/mas_assets/full/N1081859407.jpg |title=Illustration of statue of Caractacus |newspaper=[[The Illustrated London News]] |date=13 August 1859 |access-date=30 May 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111004061206/http://www.old-print.com/mas_assets/full/N1081859407.jpg |archive-date=4 October 2011 }}</ref>|group=lower-alpha}}
In short, in matters vegetable, animal, and mineral,
I am the very model of a modern Major-Gineral.<!-- Please do not respell.  See the note above. -->

In fact, when I know what is meant by "[[mamelon (fort)|mamelon]]" and "[[ravelin]]",
When I can tell at sight a [[Mauser|Mauser rifle]] from a [[javelin]],{{#tag:ref|In early versions of the libretto, "Mauser rifle" in line 26 is "[[Chassepot]] rifle". The Chassepot was an early breech loading rifle used by the French, but it had gone out of production by 1875. The Mauser rifle, adopted by the German army in 1871,<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.mauser.com/1871.197.0.html?&L=1|title= History - Company - 1871|access-date= 7 May 2012|publisher= [[Mauser]]|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20111008134034/http://www.mauser.com/1871.197.0.html?&L=1|archive-date= 8 October 2011|url-status= dead}}</ref> became the more widely used rifle, and Gilbert changed the lyric after the 1907 revival of ''Pirates''.<ref>Bradley, 1996, p. 220</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Martyn Green's treasury of Gilbert & Sullivan |last1=Sullivan |first=Arthur |author-link1=Arthur Sullivan |last2=Gilbert |first2=W S |author-link2=W. S. Gilbert |last3=Green |first3=Martyn |author-link3=Martyn Green |last4=Sirmay |first4=Albert |author-link4=Albert Szirmai |author5=Corcos, Lucille |year=1961 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |location=[[New York City|New York]] |isbn=978-0-671-45250-6 |oclc=4009569 |page=151}}</ref>|group=lower-alpha}}
When such affairs as [[sortie]]s and surprises I'm more wary at,
And when I know precisely what is meant by "[[commissariat]]",
When I have learnt what progress has been made in modern gunnery,
When I know more of [[military tactics|tactics]] than a [[novitiate|novice]] in a [[nunnery]] –
In short, when I've a smattering of elemental [[military strategy|strategy]] –
You'll say a better Major-General has never sat a [[horse|gee]].{{#tag:ref|The phrase "sat a gee" means "sat on a horse".<ref name=Benford57/>|group=lower-alpha}}

For my military knowledge, though I'm plucky and adventury,
Has only been brought down to the beginning of the century;
But still, in matters vegetable, animal, and mineral,
I am the very model of a modern Major-Gineral.<!-- Please do not respell.  See the note above. -->
</poem>}}

'''Notes:'''
{{reflist|group=lower-alpha}}