`` Princess Ida '' is based on a narrative poem by Alfred , Lord Tennyson called `` The Princess '' ( 1847 ) , and Gilbert had written a farcical musical play , based on the poem , in 1870 .
Gilbert based `` Princess Ida '' on a play he wrote in 1870 called `` The Princess '' . This play was based , in turn , on `` The Princess '' , a long poem of 1847 by Alfred , Lord Tennyson .