本書是W·S·吉爾伯特(W. S. Gilbert)的一部諧趣詩合集。吉爾伯特因與Arthur Sullivan一起創(chuàng)作喜劇劇本而一舉成名，這些作品寫于他成名之前。吉爾伯特在創(chuàng)作中形成了自己獨特的"topsy-turvy"(七顛八倒)風(fēng)格，在這種風(fēng)格下通過設(shè)定一個荒謬的前提并引申出符合邏輯但十分可笑的后果來制造幽默。本書也展示了吉爾伯特憤世嫉俗的、諷刺性的幽默感。

目錄:

Ballad: Captain Reece
Ballad: The Rival Curates
Ballad: Only A Dancing Girl
Ballad: General John
Ballad: To A Little Maid - By A Policeman
Ballad: John And Freddy
Ballad: Sir Guy The Crusader
Ballad: Haunted
Ballad: The Bishop And The 'Busman
Ballad: The Troubadour
Ballad: Ferdinando And Elvira; Or, The Gentle Pieman
Ballad: Lorenzo De Lardy
Ballad: Disillusioned - By An Ex-Enthusiast
Ballad: Babette's Love
Ballad: To My Bride - (Whoever She May Be)
Ballad: The Folly Of Brown - By A General Agent
Ballad: Sir Macklin
Ballad: The Yarn Of The "Nancy Bell"
Ballad: The Bishop Of Rum-Ti-Foo
Ballad: The Precocious Baby. A Very True Tale (TO BE SUNG TO THE AIR OF THE "WHISTLING OYSTER.")
Ballad: To Phoebe
Ballad: Baines Carew, Gentleman
Ballad: Thomas Winterbottom Hance
Ballad: The Reverend Micah Sowls
Ballad: A Discontented Sugar Broker
Ballad: The Pantomime "Super" To His Mask
Ballad: The Force Of Argument
Ballad: The Ghost, The Gallant, The Gael, And The Goblin
Ballad: The Phantom Curate. A Fable
Ballad: The Sensation Captain
Ballad: Tempora Mutantur
Ballad: At A Pantomime. By A Bilious One
Ballad: King Borria Bungalee Boo
Ballad: The Periwinkle Girl
Ballad: Thomson Green And Harriet Hale (To be sung to the Air of "An 'Orrible Tale.")
Ballad: Bob Polter
Ballad: The Story Of Prince Agib
Ballad: Ellen McJones Aberdeen
Ballad: Peter The Wag
Ballad: Ben Allah Achmet; - Or, The Fatal Tum
Ballad: The Three Kings Of Chickeraboo
Ballad: Joe Golightly - Or, The First Lord's Daughter
Ballad: The wind blows towards the lee, Willow! But though I sigh and sob and cry, No Lady Jane for me, Willow!
Ballad: To The Terrestrial Globe. By A Miserable Wretch
Ballad: Gentle Alice Brown