The Poor Soldier is a 1783 British pasticcio opera with music by William Shield and a text by John O'Keeffe. It was a comedy set around Irish soldiers returning home after fighting in the British army in the American War of Independence, which formally ended that year with the Peace of Paris.[1] One of the redcoats must fight for the love of Norah with the urbane Captain Fitzroy. The events are set entirely in a small Irish village called Carton, a few miles from Dublin, although several versions refer to it only as "a country village".[2]
The Poor Soldier was an altered version, as an afterpiece, of the earlier The Shamrock, or The Anniversary of St Patrick, first performed as a comic opera on 16 April 1777 at Crow Street Theatre, Dublin, followed by a London performance on 7 April 1783 at Covent Garden. The first performance of The Poor Soldier took place on 4 November 1783 at Covent Garden.[3]
The work enjoyed widespread popularity in the newly independent United States, and was a favourite of George Washington.[4]
The music by Shield was mostly based on Irish traditional tunes, which had been sung to Shield by the Irishman O'Keeffe,[5] as in many other examples of the collaboration between Shield and O'Keeffe.[6] One exception was the Scottish tune "Oh, whistle and I'll come to you, my lad", used for the song "Since love is the plan, I'll love if I can".[7] The song "How Happy the Soldier" also featured in the opera.
In 1786, O'Keeffe wrote a sequel Love in a Camp, when the characters have joined the Prussian army.