Tragic Opera: abridged

And now for something completely different...how about some haiku? My sdil, Elsa, recently shared some of her haiku, written after one of her music history classes. The topic: opera. If you are familiar with these operas, you will laugh out loud. If not, you can still enjoy her playfulness.

SPOILER WARNING: if you read these on her facebook page, and are still trying to guess the opera, don't look here, because I have included the titles!

Tragic Opera: Abridged
By Elsa Finnegan

Everybody dies.
Is it the plight of all men
or just opera?


Madame Butterfly
U. S. hypocrite
weds suicidal geisha.
An uplifting tale.

Otello
Life after death? Yes!
Desdemona is strangled.
and sings anyway.

Orfeo
Euridice stays
across the Styx. Husband grieves:
No boat ride for her.

Girl of the Golden West
These Plains Indians
Sing Italian recit.
Unbelievable?

Boris Godunov
Usurper and his
cute kids versus ghostly prince.
Guess who goes crazy.

La Boheme
Consumptive falls in
love with penniless poet.
No tragedy here.


The bad have bad ends
and the good do too. But you
could sing well meanwhile!