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MIKADO: A more humane Mikado never
Did in Japan exist,
To nobody second,
I'm certainly reckoned
A true philanthropist.
It is my very humane endeavour
To make, to some extent,
Each evil liver
A running river
Of harmless merriment.

My object all sublime
I shall achieve in time--
To let the punishment fit the crime--
The punishment fit the crime;
And make each pris'ner pent
Unwillingly represent
A source of innocent merriment!
Of innocent merriment!

All prosy dull society sinners,
Who chatter and bleat and bore,
Are sent to hear sermons
From mystical Germans
Who preach from ten till four.
The amateur tenor, whose vocal villainies
All desire to shirk,
Shall, during offhours,
Exhibit his powers
To Madame Tussaud's waxwork.

The lady who dyes a chemical yellow
Or stains her grey hair puce,
Or pinches her figure,
Is painted with vigour
And permanent walnut juice.
The idiot who, in railway carriages,
Scribbles on windowpanes,
We only suffer
To ride on a buffer
In Parliament'ry trains.

My object all sublime
I shall achieve in time--
To let the punishment fit the crime--
The punishment fit the crime;
And make each pris'ner pent
Unwillingly represent
A source of innocent merriment!
Of innocent merriment!

CHORUS.: His object all sublime
He will achieve in time--
To let the punishment fit the crime--
The punishment fit the crime;
And make each pris'ner pent
Unwillingly represent
A source of innocent merriment!
Of innocent merriment!

MIK: The advertising quack who wearies
With tales of countless cures,
His teeth, I've enacted,
Shall all be extracted
By terrified amateurs.
The musichall singer attends a series
Of masses and fugues and "ops"
By Bach, interwoven
With Spohr and Beethoven,
At classical Monday Pops.

The billiard sharp who any one catches,
His doom's extremely hard--
He's made to dwell--
In a dungeon cell
On a spot that's always barred.
And there he plays extravagant matches
In fitless fingerstalls
On a cloth untrue
With a twisted cue
And elliptical billiard balls!

My object all sublime
I shall achieve in time--
To let the punishment fit the crime--
The punishment fit the crime;
And make each pris'ner pent
Unwillingly represent
A source of innocent merriment!
Of innocent merriment!

CHORUS.: His object all sublime
He will achieve in time--
To let the punishment fit the crime--
The punishment fit the crime;
And make each pris'ner pent
Unwillingly represent
A source of innocent merriment!
Of innocent merriment!

By Gilbert & Sullivan
Generated by NoteWorthy Composer

The Mikado Act 2 No. 6
Lyrics
Mikado
Soprano
Altos
Tenors
Basses
Right Hand
Left Hand
Tempo