The Works of Thomas Hood; Vol. 01 (of 11): Comic and Serious, in Prose and Verse, With All the Original IllustrationsHood, Thomas
General
The Works of Thomas Hood; Vol. 01 (of 11): Comic and Serious, in Prose and Verse, With All the Original Illustrations
Hood, Thomas
English poetry -- 19th century; English wit and humor; Humorous poetry, English
I have always considered the above physiognomical miracle--the lighting
up of that seemingly impracticable countenance--as the best criticism I
have ever _seem_ of the performances of the great Pan of Pantomime:--a
most eloquent retrospective review of the triumphs of his genius. It
was a glorious illustration of the Pleasures of Memory, to behold
that face so like the stain a dead calm on a dull day burst suddenly
into ripples and radiance, like the brook that laughs in the sun. What
recollections of exquisite fooling must have rushed into her fancy
to convert that Quakerly maiden, as by a stage metamorphosis, into a
perfect figure of fun! What grotesque fantastic shapes must have come
tumbling, rolling, crawling, dangling, dancing, prancing, floundering,
flopping, striding, sliding, ambling, shambling, scrambling,
stumbling, bundling, and trundling into her mind’s eye, to so startle
her features from their propriety! What face-making faces, with
telegraphic brows--rolling, reeling, goggling, ogling, hard-winking,
and soft-blinking eyes--and grinning, gaping, pinching, puckering
mouths must have grimaced at her to put her steady countenance so out
of countenance! What is there in a name? Why magic! A serious, quiet,
decrepid man had but to announce himself, and Presto! Prestissimo!
before an engineer could cry “Ease her! stop her! back her!” our Sarah
had retraced her course up the stream of time to the bright wintry
gallery nights at the Lane, or the Garden, or the Midsummer Night’s
Dream at the Wells. Talk of magnetisers! when did Baron Dupotet, or any
of his sect, without pass or manipulation, thus throw a sedate, orderly
maiden, into an ecstasy, and set her looking through the back of her
head at the pantomimical experiences of the past? Talk of Laughing Gas!
when was there a facetious fluid so potent that the mere sight of the
empty bottle--(for such, alas! the ex-clown was become)--could throw
the ticklesome muscles into merry convulsions?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account