'In April [1891] the President of Magdalen, Oxford, and Mrs Warren called upon us [...] Mrs Richard Ward, who had joined us, wanted her little boy to hear my father read. My father answered, "I will only read you something old." He read the "Ode on the Duke of Wellington." He dwelt long on the final words, letting them ring so to speak, especially "toll'd, Boom." At the end he said, "It is a great roll of words, the music of words. For a hundred people who can sing a song, there are not ten who can read a poem. People do not understand the music of words." He then read the little Dedication to "OEnone," then the poem. He explained the story, pausing from time to time, asking a few questions'.