His real masters, besides his father and his father??s library in general, were the poets, and especially Byron and Shelley. ??The first composition I was ever guilty of,?? he wrote to Elizabeth Barrett in 1846, ??was something in imitation of Ossian.?? But he never could ??recollect not writing rhymes,?? though he ??knew they were nonsense even then.?? ??It is not surprising,?? says Herford, ??th