Byron, George Gordon Byron, Baron, 1788-1824 -- Last years; Poets, English -- 19th century -- Biography
'The impression of the first few minutes disappointed me, as I had,
both from the portraits and descriptions given, conceived a different
idea of him. I had fancied him taller, with a more dignified and
commanding air; and I looked in vain for the hero-looking sort of
person, with whom I had so long identified him in imagination. His
appearance is, however, highly prepossessing. His head is finely
shaped, and his forehead open, high, and noble; his eyes are grey and
full of expression, but one is visibly larger than the other. The nose
is large and well shaped, but, from being a little _too thick_, it
looks better in profile than in front-face; his mouth is the most
remarkable feature in his face, the upper lip of Grecian shortness,
and the corners descending; the lips full, and finely cut.
'In speaking, he shows his teeth very much, and they are white and
even; but I observed that even in his smile--and he smiles
frequently--there is something of a scornful expression in his mouth,
that is evidently natural, and not, as many suppose, affected. This
particularly struck me. His chin is large and well shaped, and
finishes well the oval of his face. He is extremely thin--indeed, so
much so that his figure has almost a boyish air. His face is
peculiarly pale, but not the paleness of ill-health, as its character
is that of fairness, the fairness of a dark-haired person; and his
hair (which is getting rapidly grey) is of a very dark brown, and
curls naturally: he uses a good deal of oil in it, which makes it look
still darker. His countenance is full of expression, and changes with
the subject of conversation; it gains on the beholder the more it is
seen, and leaves an agreeable impression.... His whole appearance is
remarkably gentlemanlike, and he owes nothing of this to his toilet,
as his coat appears to have been many years made, is much too
large--and all his garments convey the idea of having been purchased
ready-made, so ill do they fit him. There is a _gaucherie_ in his
movements, which evidently proceeds from the perpetual consciousness
of his lameness, that appears to haunt him; for he tries to conceal
his foot when seated, and when walking has a nervous rapidity in his
manner. He is very slightly lame, and the deformity of his foot is so
little remarkable, that I am not now aware which foot it is.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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