| Description | He received Herschel's gift [of 'The Iliad'] with no ordinary pleasure, made especially gratifying by the inscription. He has not read beyond the preface and the first two books which he saw in 1862 and 1863. He agrees with every point in the preface on which he has the right to an opinion. Those who do not admit the hexameter as an approved English metre will still be content that Herschel had chosen it. If it is not established by Herschel's exhibition, it will not be established at all. Herschel's preface remark on the perception of quantity is applicable to English verse as well as to Greek and Latin. He gives examples of English words which may be pronounced in two ways, including 'leisure', giving a verse example. Taylor quotes lines from [Francis] Beaumont and [John] Fletcher to give a specimen of emphasis by double consonant. The differences in quantity in English is brought home to him each morning at family prayers: he is always outrun by others as he reads the Lord's Prayer, except in a single line. He wishes Herschel joy of his achievement. He will miss his daily task, but Herschel's pursuits are so manifold they will not end. He is not sure if he remembers Herschel's address correctly; Mrs. [Julia Margaret] Cameron will supply it. |