CHAPTER XXIX
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THE NOSE
We often see fine eyes in an otherwise ugly face, but rarely is a thoroughly beautiful nose found in a face which could be called ugly, for the nose is the keynote of the face, and in it lies the chief characteristic of the countenance. Beautiful eyes and beautiful lips have, it is true, more charm--it is the expression of the eyes and lips of those we love which we most remember in absence--but it is the nose which, more than any other feature, most affects the general character of the face. This will be seen if we try the experiment of drawing the head and face of any beautiful statue--say the Venus of Milo, for instance--and, while giving it all its fair proportions of brow and cheek and chin, we substitute a small turn-up nose, or, worse still, a flat or snub nose, for the noble yet softly gracious line of the nose in this most perfect head and how much we should lower the noble type of beauty this Venus presents! Of course no one in real life could be unattractive with such a brow and beautifully shaped eyes, to say nothing of the perfect lips and softly rounded lines of the chin; but the nobility of the face would be entirely lost by this alteration of the lines of the nose; whilst we might alter the beautiful lines of the eyes, narrow the brow, and even take from the softly voluptuous contour of lips and chin, yet by leaving untouched the perfect form of the nose we should still retain the dignity of expression which is so characteristic of this statue.
A nose to be perfect should equal the length of the forehead; it may, when the forehead is exceptionally low, be even longer than the forehead (and in most of the beautiful antique statues it is so), but on no account should it be shorter than the brow. Viewed in front, the nose should be somewhat broader at its root--that is, where it starts from the brow--than below. The end of it should be neither hard nor fleshy, but it should be well defined, though neither very pointed nor very broad, for all extremes of forms in any of the features are bad. Viewed in profile, the distance from the line of the wing of the nose to its tip should only be one-third of the length of the nose. Thus, those noses which stand very much out from the face as they near the end of the nose, whilst they are low on the bridge and between the eyes, are out of proportion. Those having such noses are vivacious, but wanting in dignity and force of character. They are impressionable, inquisitive and inconstant.
The nostrils (from the different forms of which many indications are given) should be pointed above and rounded below. The sides of the nose at its root between the eyes should close well with the line of the eyebone (as one sees them invariably do in the antique statues), and should be at least half an inch in width. Perhaps a better rule of proportion--as regards the whole face--is that the width of the nose between the eyes should be exactly the length of the eye.
Noses which are arched from their starting-point between the eyes show capability of command, energy and force of character. It will be remembered that the Duke of Wellington--the Iron Duke--had this sort of nose. Of course, this form in excess (as it certainly was in his case), without the characteristics of self-control and other good points in the face, would not have the same indication. A very prominent nose, like the beak of a parrot, with a narrow brow and retreating chin, would give stupid obstinacy; but, in an otherwise good physiognomy, a prominent nose gives force, command and productive energy.
It cannot, however, be denied that one _sometimes_ comes upon noses which are rather small in proportion to the rest of the face and which are so devoid of arch as to be almost concave in their line when seen in profile, in persons of fairly good understanding; but such noses belong rather to those who appreciate, than to those who produce, works of literature and art. The people having these noses, provided the brows show some intellectuality, will be found to enjoy the beautiful influences of works of the imagination, but they themselves possess little or no creative power.
Straight noses give indications between these two extremes; they may belong to persons of the creative, or simply appreciative, order of mind. The form of the head and brow and the line of the eyebrows would determine to which class they especially belong. Arched noses with broad backs denote force of character. Swift and Napoleon Bonaparte had noses of this type. This sort of nose, with an arch starting from the root, is seen in almost all the busts of the Roman emperors; it is, in fact, frequently called the "Roman nose," and is very typical of the race which was for so many ages dominant in Europe; whilst the beautiful straight nose (which we are accustomed to call Grecian, because it is seen in almost all the antique statues) is quite as indicative of the perception of beauty in art and literature and of the subtlety of mind which distinguished the Greeks. The creative force in the antique straight nose is given by its _proportion_ to the rest of the face, for it is always larger in proportion to the brow, cheeks and jaws than the strongly-arched broad-bridged nose which we call Roman, and thus it is indicative of quite as much productive force as the arched Roman nose, with infinitely more delicacy of perception; a small straight nose shorter than the forehead and set in a large round face, shows timidity and foolishness and is the nose of an unintelligent person.
High noses that are not broad-backed are often seen in the faces of men of letters, but a high _thin_-backed nose, which seems to start up in a sharp ridge when seen in profile, is more indicative of penetration and acuteness than force of mind. These noses have generally fine, sharp tips, with a downward curve; this is an indication of wit. Voltaire and Sterne had such noses; they are generally seen in combination with thin and flexible lips and a somewhat pointed chin. A nose which is bent downwards is also indicative of sadness of disposition, for it is one of the signatures of the melancholy planet Saturn; but wit may exist (in fact generally does so) with a somewhat sad temperament. Voltaire's wit is almost always cynical, and cynicism grows out of a want of hope, a want of belief in one's fellow-creatures; whilst in Sterne (the writer of the inimitable though now little-read work, _Tristram Shandy_) there is always, even in his brightest sallies, an under-current of pathetic sadness. People with this sort of nose are sarcastic, somewhat hypochondriacal and very often reserved and morose. If, with this form of nose, the nostrils are narrow and almost closed and the wings of the nose pinched, the indications are still more those given by the melancholy planet Saturn; the more elastic and freely moving the nostril with this form of nose, the more bright and the less sardonic the wit. A person with a broad Roman nose, having this violent downward curve over the mouth, is one to be avoided, for this combination denotes a secretly voluptuous temperament--a man or woman of strong passions hidden beneath a cold and reserved manner. Broad-backed fleshy noses, round and full at the tips, with intellectually good brows, show a genial temperament and a sense of humour. Without the good indications of the brow they would only show love of good cheer and a certain good-humoured carelessness.
Snub-noses--that is, noses short in proportion to the brow and with round fleshy tips--are indicative of commonplace, somewhat coarse natures, especially if the nostrils are round and the bridge of the nose very low between the eyes.
What is called a turned-up nose shows vivacity of temperament, jealousy, talkativeness, impudence (growing out of a certain amount of self-esteem) and petulance.
There is a sort of delicately turned-up nose which we often see in pretty women, and which, though it shows wilfulness and coquetry--things not uncommon in pretty women, since the song tells us--
"For oh! these charming women, They all have wills of their own"--
is significant of delicate perceptions and a certain intuitive cleverness which is thoroughly feminine and, therefore, very attractive to men. These noses--which are especially the noses of charming women--are well raised at the root; in fact, have all the delicacy of line of a straight nose, except that the extreme tip has an upward curve. It must have been of one of these delicate and thoroughly feminine noses that Tennyson must have been thinking when he describes one of his heroines as having a nose--
"Tip-tilted like a flower."
Flexible nostrils, which quiver under excitement, show an ardent, poetic, and sensitive temperament.
Very open and flexible nostrils show ardour in love and if seen in conjunction with large, full and slowly-moving eyes and a full under lip, indicate a voluptuous and passionate nature.
Closed nostrils show melancholy, timidity and absence of hopefulness--a person who habitually sees everybody and everything _en noir_.
Round nostrils show animal instincts and a somewhat low type of individuality; they are generally seen in snub-noses, which of themselves give the same indication.
Noses which have on both sides many wrinkles, which become visible on the slightest motion and never entirely disappear, even in a state of complete rest, show cunning and sarcasm.
When the line (which, after extreme youth, is always more or less seen from the nose to the mouth) is very strongly marked, and descends at a great distance from the corners of the mouth to the chin, it evidences an anxious and melancholic nature.
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