Sufficiently accurate for poetry

This I spied in a post over at Helen’s place and it made me laugh. I admire Mr. Babbage’s sentiment for poetry and affiliation to accuracy. How shall the twain meet?

Sir:

In your otherwise beautiful poem ‘The Vision of Sin’ there is a verse which reads – ‘Every moment dies a man, Every moment one is born.’ It must be manifest that if this were true, the population of the world would be at a standstill …

I would suggest that in the next edition of your poem you have it read – ‘Every moment dies a man, Every moment 1 1/16 is born.’ …

The actual figure is so long I cannot get it onto a line, but I believe the figure 1 1/16 will be sufficiently accurate for poetry. I am, Sir, yours, etc., Charles Babbage”.

(Babbage to Tennyson, 1851)

Tagged as: Babbage, poetry, Tennyson