For, could we but once look upon his face in rest, then
should we forget these inferior attributes; just as, looking upon the
Memnonian statues, one forgets the horrid nicknames of "Shandy" and
"Andy" which they have received from casual travellers, observing merely
their grotesque features. Features of this latter sort "dislimn" and
yield, as the writing on palimpsests, to the regal majesty of the divine
countenance, which none can look upon and smile. Let me paint De
Quincey's face as at this moment I seem to see it. It is wrinkled as
with an Homeric antiquity; arid it is, and sallow, as parchment. Through
a certain Bedouin-like conformation,--which, however, is idealized by
the lofty, massive forehead, and by the prevailing subtilty of the
general expression,--it seems fitted to desert solitudes; and in this
respect it is truly Memnonian. In another respect, also, is it
Memnonian,--that, whenever should rest upon its features the morning
sunlight, we should surely await its responsive requiem or its trembling
_jubilate_.
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