Origin of "What a to-do to die today at a minute or two to two..."?

Question

What a to-do to die today at a minute or two to two,

A thing distinctly hard to say but harder still to do.

For they'll beat a tattoo at a quarter to two:

A rat-ta tat-tat ta tat-tat ta to-to.

And the dragon will come when he hears the drum

At a minute or two to two today, at a minute or two to two.

I have to recite this poem for an audition and I wanted to know if there was anymore to the poem that could add to its meaning. I know it is by Lewis Carroll. and please don't say to 'google' it. i tried and all that came up was that it was a warm-up exercise.

If anyone knows the full, original poem can you post it or include a link to it. Thank you!!!

Answer 1

It's from Edward German's Opera, Merrie England.  The song's "Oh! Here's a to-do to die to-day." It's suggested that German may have paraphrased lines from Caroll, but the poem itself comes from the song in the opera.