VOYAGE BENEATH THE WAVES was published two years prior to Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. Verne, when he became aware of Jules Rengade's serial version, felt obliged to write the magazine editor to set the record straight--HE'D developed the idea independently! In fact, the influence was very much the other way around: although Rengade had come up with the idea of an imaginary voyage of submarine exploration separately, he'd modeled his narrative style on Verne's, thus...

Lorsque tu comptais dix printemps à peine,Moi j’avais douze ans. Déjà grands tous deux,Nous n’avions plus peur de Croquemitaine,Ni des Dragons verts, ni des Ogres bleus.Nous nous connaissions depuis une année,Et, depuis ce temps, nous étions amis :Enfants bien gentils, en une journéeNous nous étions vus, embrassés, unis...Riches de gaîté, nos âmes aimantesNageaient dans la joie. On ne comptait rienBaisers longs et doux...