Pen Portraits--Lela--Majoli--Guerrabella and Celina--Their
Characteristics.
_July 8_.
While looking over a box of old letters and newspapers this morning I
came across a little sketch descriptive of our quartette, written last
winter for a New York journal. This sketch, or "Pen Portraits," as it
was styled, veils our identity under fictitious names, the initials
only being preserved, and although it passes over our imperfections and
very much exaggerates our accomplishments, still it contains, I think,
so much that is characteristic that I will preserve it by copying it
into my journal. The writer commenced with a description of mamma's
room in Cottage Place, and dwelt particularly upon a picture of uncle
hanging over the mantelpiece, but that portion of the sketch has been
torn off and lost.
. . . . . . "But let us regard the _living_ pictures. You see that
youthful group! A group to inspire a poet or painter! They are
four--they are cousins. Two are orphans; you see a resemblance to the
face in the frame wreathed in _immortelles_. We will first observe
those two that sit with arms entwined, smiling up into each other's
eyes. It is the gentle Lela[1] and her cousin Majoli, _belle_ Majoli
we may call her. These cousins are nigh the same age, and their hearts
beat in sweet accord. And there is a certain likeness, spiritual more
than physical--for Majoli is taller and slighter, and fairer, too, if
we reckon by the hue of the hair and color of the eyes.
"Lela has soft, soliciting, brown eyes; Majoli is azure-eyed, laughing
or languid according to her varying mood. Lela's face is pale as
moonbeams; filial solicitude and divine sorrow have left their
chastening impression upon her exquisite lineaments. Her countenance
is Madonna-like in purity, ingenuousness, and self-abnegation.
"Majoli's delicate features are untouched by pain or care, and though
her spiritual countenance is often tinged with melancholy, no harsh
experience has traced those pensive lines. 'Tis but the soul's
limning--a musical nature is hers, emotional and imaginative.
"Lela's head is large, though not unfeminine, and the magnificent
wealth of tawny-colored hair reminds one of Guercino's Holy Magdalen.
She has pretty, modest ways of looking down under those pale, drooping
lids with her calm, confiding eyes, and if the mouth is somewhat large,
the teeth are white and even, and the lips are coral-tinted. The nose
is straight and slender, and suggests the chisel of Phidias, and from
the expansive brow we infer a broad culture and comprehensive
understanding. It is the seat of Philosophy, as well as the throne of
the Muses.
"Majoli's head is smaller than Lela's, but its pose is aristocratic and
graceful. The blonde hair is artistically coiffed, and though the
features are not strikingly regular, there is sympathy and great
sweetness in the face, and art and refinement are expressed even by the
slim, pale hands. An airy, lithesome figure she has, and the beat of
her footfall is cadenced to the measure of joyous music. Frail she
seems compared with Lela's well-rounded figure, but if she has not
equal strength, she has elasticity; and if more energy and power is
indicated by the physiognomy of Lela, Majoli has ambition and judgment
to compensate.
"We have compared Lela's face to the rich portraiture of Guercino;
Majoli's suggests the pencil of that famous old Spanish master, Ribera,
whose pictures of women were always a blending of the elegance of a
court lady with the simplicity and _naïveté_ of a church devotee. Half
belle, half _religieuse_ we may style her.
"And on what have these dainty minds been nurtured, and who have been
their intellectual mentors? Lela has been bred within a cloister's
walls, and foreign travel has polished both mind and manners.
"In no school has Majoli's mind been formed, nor is she greatly
indebted to learned professors for her mental attainments. A mother's
love has quickened the budding intellect, a mother's intelligence has
trained and directed the unfolding powers. The grace of foreign speech
is on her tongue, and scenes and pictures of distant lands are
enshrined in her memory. Ancient lore has for her a peculiar charm;
history is her delight; Plutarch, Josephus, Gibbon, Macaulay, she has
conned well. Poesy she loves much. The poetry of the Bible, Dante,
Schiller, Herbert, Browning, are her favorites. In sacred books she
finds sweet enjoyment. The Fathers of the Church afford her great
pleasure; St. Augustine, St. Basil, Thomas à Kempis, etc. She has the
grace of devotion, but her love of the Church is affected more by its
aesthetical qualities than its theological dogmas.
"Lela is a passionate book-lover. There are few modern writers that
have not furnished entertainment to her accomplished mind, and she is
not unacquainted with the best Latin and Greek authors. English,
German, and French literature are alike open to her. Biography,
essays, dramas, poetry, with more serious reading, occupy her time.
Virgil and Horace, Bacon, Shakespeare, Racine, Victor Hugo, Heine and
George Eliot may be mentioned as among her preferences.
"But while we are attempting to portray some noticeable characteristics
in Lela and Majoli, how are Celina and Guerrabella occupied? You see
Guerrabella has a pencil in her hand. She is sketching a head; if we
look closely, we shall probably recognize our own, grotesquely drawn,
for there is no denying that our young genius is fond of caricaturing
her friends. Celina sits by a table; her large, open eyes have a
distant, dreamy expression. Her pen moves rapidly across the page; she
is writing a Musical Recollection, we may presume.
"Guerrabella is the youngest of the group. She is tall, picturesque,
imposing. Her face is radiant with blushes, dimples, and smiles. She
looks so fresh and beautiful that she might have set for Greuze's
picture of 'Sweet Sixteen.' A sense of thorough enjoyment flashes from
the bright, blue-gray eyes, and is indicated by the rose-bloom on cheek
and lips. There is an air of strength and courage perceptible, and a
certain dash in her manner that associates her with Scott's favorite
heroine, Di Vernon. She has great mimic powers, and might adorn the
histrionic stage. Towards art and literature she seems equally
attracted, and what she will eventually decide to follow we cannot now
predict. She will fail in nothing for want of talent.
"Celina's height scarce reaches to Guerrabella's shoulder; her figure
is fragile and dainty; and though her cheek lacks bloom, the lines are
soft and graceful, and the face pensive and poetic. The mouth is small
and well curved, and the air of repose that rests upon the imaginative
brow resembles the Muse of Meditation. The serenity that is uniformly
spread over her unique countenance is in strong contrast to the
animated, vivacious features of her cousin. Celina's head is fashioned
after a classic model, and the mass of amber-hued hair which crowns it
might be taken for an aureola. Her pansy-like eyes are full of sweet,
poetic vision. The brow is marked by delicately defined eyebrows, and
the eyelashes are long and silken. 'Tis a melodic countenance,
foreshadowing that dream-world from which our young heroine has never
for a moment awakened. Too _petite_, some might deem her, for womanly
perfection; but physical symmetry, ease, and a dignified bearing
elevate the fairy figure to the true standard. She moves about with an
airy grace, and nothing earthly is lighter than her footfall. Her
small, delicate hands grace the keyboard, and music in her has an
enchanting interpreter.
"Guerrabella participates in the family passion for literature. She
possesses great intellectual independence, and her preferences are
decided, usually inclining to the bold and strong. She is fond of
Macaulay's 'Heroic Lays of Many Lands;' she rejoices in Becky Sharp;
and there is a tradition that she learned to read in the works of
Thackeray, spelling out the words of that magnificent novel, Henry
Esmond.
"Celina has explored the treasures of classic lore in music and
literature. Homer, Herodotus, Plato, she has read, with Tasso and his
chivalrous lays, and Spenser and his stately verse. In music, Glück
and Grétry, Beethoven and Boieldieu's dulcet tones have helped to
fashion her musical mind.
"But we must not dismiss our heroines without indicating the toilettes
that most become them. Velvets and rich brocade befit the Lady Lela's
superb figure. Scarlet is her color, and diamonds her essential
ornament. The moss-rose should be her favorite flower.
"Soft gray or pale azure of light fabrics do best agree with Majoli's
sylph-like form. Pearls and feathers are consonant to her artistic
taste. Her emblematic flower is the lily, of sacred and legendary lore.
"All shades and fabrics of whatever texture harmonize with
Guerrabella's style. Ample should be the folds that habit her majestic
figure, and brilliant the gems that are to rival her flashing,
sparkling eyes: yet we might indicate _couleur de rose_ as best
blending with her own exquisite tints, and the opal with its mysterious
light as in some way prefiguring her genius and high destiny.
"And how shall we vest our _mignonne_--Celina? Gossamer tissues,
fabrics of airy texture--a magic web for the daintiest Lady in our
Land. No color of human invention; their dyes would oppress her.
_White_ with a gleam of moonlight upon it; a reflection of the aura of
her hair, or the first pale beams of the morning. Other gems would I
not but those wondrous starlike eyes, to light up a face radiant with
thought and sensibility."
[1] For Lilian, Ida's second name.