[Vocabulary] Through the open windows of the room came the rich scent of summer flowers

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yi-ing

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"Through the open windows of the room came the rich scent of summer flowers. Lord Henry Wotton lay back in his chair and smoked his cigarette. Beyond the soft sounds of the garden he could just hear the noise of London. In the centre of the room there was a portrait of a very beautiful young man and in front of it stood the artist himself, Basil Hallward. "

I have two questions related to underlined parts:

1) Why do the writer in the first line use "present and past" tense together- lay back and smoked ?
2) shouldn't the second underlined part be like:

... and in front of it the artist stood himself, Basil Hallward.


source : The picture of Dorian Gray (book)
 

Raymott

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1. He's using the past tense. 'Lay' is the past tense of 'lie'.
2. No, this is an acceptable word order for that position.

PS: By the way, your thread title has nothing to do with your question.
 

emsr2d2

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1) Why [STRIKE]do[/STRIKE] does/did the writer in the first line use the (no quotation marks here) present and past (no quotation marks here) tenses together (space before a dash) - "lay back and smoked"?
2) Shouldn't the second underlined part be like:

Source : The Picture of Dorian Gray (book).

See my corrections above.
 
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