Poems to larboard : a piece of plotless silliness
I know its long gone April 1st, so there is no excuse for this : but it came of pondering sonnets and is here in the hope it might cause a smile somewhere:
TITLE: Poems to larboard
WORDS: 464
RATING: Gen
DISCLAIMER:The usual thing: these characters are not mine and I make no claim on them etc
PAIRING: Horatio and Archie, or is it Archie and his captain ganged up on Horatio for once.
SUMMARY: Very silly.
" Sir!" an urgent shout from the holder of the telescope
"Yes, Mr Hornblower?"
" Poems to larboard!"
" Let me see...hmmmm- some of ours,I think...what do you make of them,Mr Kennedy?"
" Certainly ours, sir, not those Alexandrine things the frogs go in for,"
" Hmmm ...and not those- what are those damned things the Dons think make a sonnet, got 11 feet in "em.Dammed irregular nonsense if you ask me ?"
"Hendecasyllables, sir.No, definitely ours.Wait! they're hoisting their colours.Yes sir, they're flying the 'GG' couplet at the stern. Genuinely Shakespearian, sir."
" Pleased to hear it, Mr Kennedy.Signal them, Welcome aboard, and - er- something suitable in iambics of course."
" Aye- aye, sir!"
" Sir, Arch- Mr Kennedy?"
They found Horatio regarding them with something like incomprehension and they returned the regard with something exactly like affectionate glee. It was the Captain who spoke, but for both of them:
" Mr Hornblower, you may arrange a welcome for our guests.After all, I think you may be repsonsible for their presence."
" I am ? sir?"
More incomprehension, butit did not harm to the beholders, both rather glad to see the fine brain stumped for once.
Most affecting when he's puzzled, thought Pellew.
I will get him to frown like that, again, later, resolved Archie. It makes a great new pattern of lines to navigate kisses by - at least for starters...
" Yes, you,Mr Hornblower! Indeed I think we might define your role in this operation as that " he raised an interrogatory eyebrow at Archie, sympathising with the luminous grin but keeping his own face as stern as ever," as that of Erato?"
" Or Calliope, sir" volunteered Archie.
" Mr Kennedy, don't lets say we have reached epic proportions yet, but the day must soon surely come!"
"Indeed Sir!"
"Sir, please- " the voice was slightly hurt- being told you are a muse does not amuse if you do not comprehend the joke, and moreover, if the joke is being enjoyed to an inordinate extent by the two people you love most in the universe and whose good opinion you seek desperately.
Pellew took pity : "Don't fret,Mr Hornblower, its a compliment, man!And as I tell you far too often, no false modesty now.Mr Kennedy will no doubt explain- when you are both off watch.Now both of you go and get ready to welcome our guests.
He turned away,barking orders to man the sides.
The sonnets sailed serenely towards the Indy and their muse, placated only slightly and still determined to get the truth out of Archie at least, though his heart quailed a little at trying the same tactic on the Captain, at length saluted and then passed an anxious hand over his ever-unruly curls and the wide, pale brow.
This last line is to make it up to Horatio for being mean to him here, and in tribute to his TV alter ego, who can be heard on you tube reciting " I am Taliesin " from the Mabinogion. Taliesin means" The Bright Brow".
TITLE: Poems to larboard
WORDS: 464
RATING: Gen
DISCLAIMER:The usual thing: these characters are not mine and I make no claim on them etc
PAIRING: Horatio and Archie, or is it Archie and his captain ganged up on Horatio for once.
SUMMARY: Very silly.
" Sir!" an urgent shout from the holder of the telescope
"Yes, Mr Hornblower?"
" Poems to larboard!"
" Let me see...hmmmm- some of ours,I think...what do you make of them,Mr Kennedy?"
" Certainly ours, sir, not those Alexandrine things the frogs go in for,"
" Hmmm ...and not those- what are those damned things the Dons think make a sonnet, got 11 feet in "em.Dammed irregular nonsense if you ask me ?"
"Hendecasyllables, sir.No, definitely ours.Wait! they're hoisting their colours.Yes sir, they're flying the 'GG' couplet at the stern. Genuinely Shakespearian, sir."
" Pleased to hear it, Mr Kennedy.Signal them, Welcome aboard, and - er- something suitable in iambics of course."
" Aye- aye, sir!"
" Sir, Arch- Mr Kennedy?"
They found Horatio regarding them with something like incomprehension and they returned the regard with something exactly like affectionate glee. It was the Captain who spoke, but for both of them:
" Mr Hornblower, you may arrange a welcome for our guests.After all, I think you may be repsonsible for their presence."
" I am ? sir?"
More incomprehension, butit did not harm to the beholders, both rather glad to see the fine brain stumped for once.
Most affecting when he's puzzled, thought Pellew.
I will get him to frown like that, again, later, resolved Archie. It makes a great new pattern of lines to navigate kisses by - at least for starters...
" Yes, you,Mr Hornblower! Indeed I think we might define your role in this operation as that " he raised an interrogatory eyebrow at Archie, sympathising with the luminous grin but keeping his own face as stern as ever," as that of Erato?"
" Or Calliope, sir" volunteered Archie.
" Mr Kennedy, don't lets say we have reached epic proportions yet, but the day must soon surely come!"
"Indeed Sir!"
"Sir, please- " the voice was slightly hurt- being told you are a muse does not amuse if you do not comprehend the joke, and moreover, if the joke is being enjoyed to an inordinate extent by the two people you love most in the universe and whose good opinion you seek desperately.
Pellew took pity : "Don't fret,Mr Hornblower, its a compliment, man!And as I tell you far too often, no false modesty now.Mr Kennedy will no doubt explain- when you are both off watch.Now both of you go and get ready to welcome our guests.
He turned away,barking orders to man the sides.
The sonnets sailed serenely towards the Indy and their muse, placated only slightly and still determined to get the truth out of Archie at least, though his heart quailed a little at trying the same tactic on the Captain, at length saluted and then passed an anxious hand over his ever-unruly curls and the wide, pale brow.
This last line is to make it up to Horatio for being mean to him here, and in tribute to his TV alter ego, who can be heard on you tube reciting " I am Taliesin " from the Mabinogion. Taliesin means" The Bright Brow".