"e;The Absent-Minded Beggar"e; is an 1899 poem by Rudyard Kipling, set to music by Sir Arthur Sullivan. Sullivan was an English composer best known for his comic musical opera collaborations with the librettist W. S. Gilbert. His works also include 23 operas, 13 major orchestral works, eight choral works and oratorios, two ballets, incidental music to several plays, and numerous hymns and ...