Steam Communication with Boulogne
Posted: 02 July 2017
Word Count: 220
Summary: I’ve just got back from Sunday lunch at the historic Mermaid Inn at Rye. I photographed an early Victorian advertising poster they have framed and hanging on the wall there, and have attempted a ‘For The Benefit of Mr.Kite’ – type poem based on its contents
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Steam Communication with Boulogne
Messrs Allen & Fowle declare
that for the undermentioned fare
as agents for commanders of the sea,
we’re taking bookings for the ride
at eight o’clock to catch the tide
and sailing with strict punctuality.
Leaving Rye on Saturday
commencing 25th May
thereafter in accordance with the tides,
our splendid steam ships will begin
twice weekly crossings out and in
on Saturdays, and Wednesdays too besides.
For communication to Boulogne
we hope our packet you’ll enjoin
the vessels are unequalled on the coast.
With engines lately overhauled
and everything you wish on board
of safe commodious transport we can boast.
Rye 14th May 1839
VERSION 2
Steam Communication with Boulogne
Messrs Allen & Fowle declare
that for the undermentioned fare
as agents for commanders of the sea,
we’re taking bookings for the ride
at eight o’clock to catch the tide
and sailing with strict punctuality.
Leaving Rye on Saturday
commencing 25th May
thereafter in accordance with the tides,
our splendid steam ships will begin
twice weekly crossings out and in
on Saturdays, and Wednesdays too besides.
For communication to Boulogne
our packet ships we do enjoin,
the vessels are unequalled on the coast.
With engines lately overhauled
and all that you could wish on board,
of safe commodious transport we can boast.
Rye 14th May 1839
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 James Graham at 21:15 on 02 July 2017
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Mike, I was going to comment on your Brexit poem! Anyway, this looks much more congenial. But don't remove it for at least three days!
James.
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 Mickey at 21:24 on 02 July 2017
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Thanks James. It's a pity we can't upload pdf or jpg images as you really need to see the poster to judge the poem
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James Graham at 19:54 on 03 July 2017
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I’m enjoying this. The way you make rhyming look easy just amazes me. I can’t help noting this clever one (pardon the editing):
For communication to Bouloin
we hope our packet you’ll enjoin
in which you find a rhyme for the English pronunciation of Boulogne.
As well as the rhyming, you’ve got right into the language of the time, which seems pretentious to us but would have been perfectly normal for Victorians. These are great examples:
as agents for commanders of the sea
our splendid steam ships
the vessels are unequalled on the coast
of safe commodious transport we can boast
Cruise lines and suchlike nowadays wouldn’t talk about commodious vessels, but I bet those of Messrs Allen & Fowle were just that.
Just a few suggestions. The rhythm of
and sailing with strict punctuality
is a little wobbly. You may not like this, but here it is anyway:
sailing at eight to catch the tide
with strictest punctuality.
Most of your lines have four stresses, four feet, and this fits better. I would just leave out ‘too’ in the last line of the second verse. Lastly, without spoiling the rhyme you could have
For communication to Boulogne
we hope our packet you will join
as ‘enjoin’ means advise or instruct. That’s assuming it didn’t mean the same as ‘join’ in Victorian times.
Incidentally, the Sergeant Pepper songs are some of the few post-1950s pop songs I like. (I’m a dinosaur.) Plenty of other people like them too, so you’re on to a good thing there. The poster for the show ‘for the benefit of Mr Kite’ is in Wikipedia. For the delectation of the public they offer ‘Mr J. Henderson, the celebrated Somerset thrower’ and (wow!) ‘trampoline leaps’.
A very entertaining poem. Maybe the poster would have helped, but the poem goes pretty well on its own.
James.
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Mickey at 21:59 on 03 July 2017
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Thank you, James.
The poster, like that of the Mr.Kite one, is the typical Victorian mixture of fonts which, although are all various serif faces, are a complete concoction of heights, upper-case, lower-case, upright, italic, close spaced, loose spaced, bold, and underlined. I so wish you could see it to see that the period language that you compliment me on is actually taken directly from the poster itself. I was trying, like John Lennon, to keep the original text as unchanged as possible.
The top of the poster is an engraving of the steam paddle ship with, underneath, notice ‘That fast commodious sea-going vessel, The WINDSOR CASTLE, John Murray, Commander, OR The EDINBURGH CASTLE, W.Barry, Commander, will leave Rye for Boulogne on Saturday the 25th inst at 8 o’clock in the morning. It later observes that ‘the greatest punctuality will be observed on starting’
That is where the ‘commanders of the sea’ came from. As you will appreciate, the language and phrasing dictated the poem. I find I can’t read it without the ‘Mr.Kite’ rhythm taking over. I think that ‘and sailing with strict punctuality’ works perfectly if you emphasise the ‘punc’ – tuality.
I have taken on board (Oh dear, I didn’t intend that!) your point about ‘enjoin’ which I now realise means to prescribe, and I have re-written the last verse to include all the claims of ‘Messrs ALLEN & FOWLE, Rye, AGENTS’ taken directly from their advertisement. The only thing I’ve changed is ‘For communication to Boulogne’ instead of ‘with Boulogne’, so that the ‘to’ rhymes with ‘do’ in the following line. Is there any separate email address to which I could send a .pdf or .jpeg of the poster to show you what I mean?
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James Graham at 21:01 on 04 July 2017
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This is even more impressive! I thought you were making it up in the style of Victorian adverts, but in fact you’re using the actual wording of the poster and rhyming it at the same time. (As Lennon did, of course.) This doesn’t make it a ‘found’ poem; it’s a created poem, made out of raw materials. And it’s AABCCB rhyme – you can do it, not all poets can.
I can’t see any faults in the writing of this second version. You’ve kept ‘enjoin’ in its dictionary meaning, as part of a very neat couplet:
For communication to Boulogne
our packet ships we do enjoin
The secondary rhyme of 'to' and 'do' adds finesse.
I think you’re right about ‘sailing with strict punctuality’ – reading it as ‘sailing WITH strict PUNCtuALity’ makes it (just about!) OK. It’s fine.
I googled ‘Victorian shipping posters’ and got, among other things, the address below. Some nice posters, ‘splendid’ even, though mostly they’re more image than text. No sign of Allen & Fowle.
http://www.travelpostersonline.com/shipping-posters-15-c.asp
James.
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