Richard Marggraf Turley
“Elisions”
The firm of Boulton and Watt sent 132 engines to the Caribbean between 1803 and 1830
Since you ask how
it begins, it begins
with elasticity
of steam, with sun
and planet gearing,
wax and resinous
bodies. It continues
with inequality
of pressure, with want
of wind and water.
It’s put to work by the fly-
ball governors, Gale
and Long, and the am-
iable Pennant. I am
a man of sector and rack,
quadrant glass; I
calculate the economy
of heat. No, not
of planter class myself.
Look, these
latest drawings regulate
the speed of an engine,
describe the action
of vapour. Here, the descent
in the cylinder, and,
figure c, the condensate
and vacuum – and here,
here we find the endless
reservoirs. Each night,
this dream of dark
bodies. My valves move
by gears very similar
to Smeaton’s.