Richard,
Again not an answer, but a plausible explanation (?) of the transmission of
the Beardsley story:

In ABC of Reading we find:

                ...  The gulf between Homer and Virgil can be
illustrated profanely by one of Yeats' favourite anecdotes.
        A plain sailor man took a notion to study Latin, and his
teacher tried him with Virgil; after many lessons he asked
him something about the hero.
      Said the sailor:   'What hero?'
      Said the teacher:   'What hero, why, Aeneas, the hero.'
      Said the sailor:   'Ach, a hero, him, a hero? Bigob, I
t'ought he waz a priest.'


Tim Romano



>
> Beauty is difficult, Yeats, sd Mr Beardsley
>

> What were Yeats and Beardsley talking about, and how did Pound come to
know
> of their conversation?