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Alan OBrien
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Oct 15, 2004 10:38 am
Post subject: "Miles of pram" |
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Here is a verse from John Betjemen, the opening verse from Pot Pourri from a
Surrey Garden:
Miles of pram in the wind and Pam in the gorse track,
Coco-nut smell of the broom, and a packet of Weights
Press'd in the sand. The thud of a hoof on a horse-track
A horse-riding horse for a horse-track
Conifer county of Surrey approached
Through remarkable wrought-iron gates.
What does "Miles of pram" mean?
Alan
--
Work like the ponies in coalmines.
Dance like the teardrop explodes.
Love like you're Frank in Blue Velvet.
Sing as though your little throat would burst.
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Don Phillipson
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Oct 15, 2004 5:56 pm
Post subject: Re: "Miles of pram" |
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"Alan OBrien" <alaneobrienSPAM@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote in message
news:jvIbd.86875$BI5.15590@fe2.news.blueyonder.co.uk...
| Quote: | Here is a verse from John Betjemen, the opening verse from Pot Pourri from
a
Surrey Garden:
Miles of pram in the wind and Pam in the gorse track,
Coco-nut smell of the broom, and a packet of Weights
Press'd in the sand. The thud of a hoof on a horse-track
A horse-riding horse for a horse-track
Conifer county of Surrey approached
Through remarkable wrought-iron gates.
|
The poem describes the emotional as well as the
physical topography of Surrey, where young
parents often take for pleasure long walks on the
uncultivated heaths, on unpaved tracks, sometimes
taking infants with them in a pram = perambulator
-- as expressed in the first six words here. Most
of Betjeman's poetry is also highly class-conscious: this
place and this behavior are typically middle-class i.e.
unfamiliar to both proletarians and aristocrats.
--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada) |
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John Dean
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Oct 15, 2004 6:19 pm
Post subject: Re: "Miles of pram" |
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Alan OBrien wrote:
| Quote: | Here is a verse from John Betjemen, the opening verse from Pot Pourri
from a Surrey Garden:
Miles of pram in the wind and Pam in the gorse track,
Coco-nut smell of the broom, and a packet of Weights
Press'd in the sand. The thud of a hoof on a horse-track
A horse-riding horse for a horse-track
Conifer county of Surrey approached
Through remarkable wrought-iron gates.
What does "Miles of pram" mean?
Alan
|
Google on ["miles of pram in the wind"] and you'll discover some
theories from correspondents in the LRB.
OED also has 'pram - a flat-bottomed boat / a sailing boat' though that
seems unlikely.
If I may tentative a consensus -
Q. "What does "Miles of pram" mean?"
A. It doesn't mean anything really (though you may like to associate it
with a procession of Nannies pushing Silver Cross's finest), but
Betjeman liked the sound of it, especially the assonance with 'Pam'.
I assume you meant 'Betjeman'? Surely there weren't two of them?
--
John Dean
Oxford
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Alan OBrien
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Oct 15, 2004 11:41 pm
Post subject: Re: "Miles of pram" |
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"John Dean" <john-dean@frag.lineone.net> wrote in message
news:ckof4f$22d$1@newsg1.svr.pol.co.uk...
| Quote: | Alan OBrien wrote:
Here is a verse from John Betjemen, the opening verse from Pot Pourri
from a Surrey Garden:
Miles of pram in the wind and Pam in the gorse track,
Coco-nut smell of the broom, and a packet of Weights
Press'd in the sand. The thud of a hoof on a horse-track
A horse-riding horse for a horse-track
Conifer county of Surrey approached
Through remarkable wrought-iron gates.
What does "Miles of pram" mean?
Alan
Google on ["miles of pram in the wind"] and you'll discover some
theories from correspondents in the LRB.
OED also has 'pram - a flat-bottomed boat / a sailing boat' though that
seems unlikely.
If I may tentative a consensus -
Q. "What does "Miles of pram" mean?"
A. It doesn't mean anything really (though you may like to associate it
with a procession of Nannies pushing Silver Cross's finest), but
Betjeman liked the sound of it, especially the assonance with 'Pam'.
I assume you meant 'Betjeman'? Surely there weren't two of them?
|
Sorry about that - I wasn't sure of the spelling.
I personally think that 'pram' must be a local Surrey nickname for a plant.
I don't see hoe 'miles of perambulators' could be 'in the wind'. They could
be cars, as someone at the LRB suggests. I was hoping someone else from
Surrey (I am in Surrey as I write) might have an opinion. |
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Alan Jones
Guest
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| Posted: Sat Oct 16, 2004 1:36 am
Post subject: Re: "Miles of pram" |
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"Alan OBrien" <alaneobrienSPAM@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote in message
news:7ZTbd.70008$ay5.33203@fe1.news.blueyonder.co.uk...
| Quote: | "John Dean" <john-dean@frag.lineone.net> wrote in message
news:ckof4f$22d$1@newsg1.svr.pol.co.uk...
Alan OBrien wrote:
Here is a verse from John Betjemen, the opening verse from Pot Pourri
from a Surrey Garden:
Miles of pram in the wind and Pam in the gorse track,
Coco-nut smell of the broom, and a packet of Weights
Press'd in the sand. The thud of a hoof on a horse-track
A horse-riding horse for a horse-track
Conifer county of Surrey approached
Through remarkable wrought-iron gates.
What does "Miles of pram" mean?
Alan
Google on ["miles of pram in the wind"] and you'll discover some
theories from correspondents in the LRB.
OED also has 'pram - a flat-bottomed boat / a sailing boat' though that
seems unlikely.
If I may tentative a consensus -
Q. "What does "Miles of pram" mean?"
A. It doesn't mean anything really (though you may like to associate it
with a procession of Nannies pushing Silver Cross's finest), but
Betjeman liked the sound of it, especially the assonance with 'Pam'.
I assume you meant 'Betjeman'? Surely there weren't two of them?
Sorry about that - I wasn't sure of the spelling.
I personally think that 'pram' must be a local Surrey nickname for a
plant. I don't see hoe 'miles of perambulators' could be 'in the wind'.
They could be cars, as someone at the LRB suggests. I was hoping someone
else from Surrey (I am in Surrey as I write) might have an opinion.
|
Perhaps (as I've always supposed) it means pushing the baby in its
perambulator for miles through the windy countryside.
Alan Jones |
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