Dulcamara, or the Little Duck and the Great Quack of Scene 1: This scene is based on one in Gilbert's short story, "The Adventures of Wheeler J. Calamity", which he had written for the "Fun Christmas Number" in 1865, with the song following this speech, "If you intend to stay with us, before you've been a day with us", appearing in both. "Dulcamara" was not widely reviewed, but "Fun" magazine – to which Gilbert was a regular contributor – gave it a long and favourable notice, declaring that "Mr W. S. Gilbert at once takes rank for both neatness of construction and brilliancy of dialogue beside Mr. Byron. The
Acis and Galatea (Handel) a number of songs (still in Italian) from Aci, Galatea e Polifemo, his 1708 setting of the same story to different music. He later adapted the original English work into a two-act work in 1739. "Acis and Galatea" was the pinnacle of pastoral opera in England. Indeed, several writers, such as musicologist Stanley Sadie, consider it the greatest pastoral opera ever composed. As is typical of the genre, "Acis and Galatea" was written as a courtly entertainment about the simplicity of rural life and contains a significant amount of wit and self-parody. The secondary characters, Polyphemus and Damon, provide a