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130 April 1882 among the personal friends he has made in America, there are many who have exacted the promise that he will return to the country next year. “And so I will,” said Mr. Wilde, “when I have got more to say and learnt a better style of saying it.” 1. Wilde paraphrases Shakespeare’s famous speech on transience and life from Macbeth, act 5, scene 5, lines 24–26. 2. Hermann Vezin (1829–1910), American actor, writer, and teacher of elocution. 3. The prince of Wales is a title typically given to the heir apparent to the British monarchy, in this case George V (1865–1936). 4. William Morris (1834–96), an English writer, artist, socialist, and principal founder of the arts and crafts movement, began writing his popular long poem The Earthly Paradise (1868) in 1861. 34. “Oscar Wilde,” Denver Rocky Mountain News, 13 April 1882, 8 The aesthete has come. The man whose life and talents are devoted to the study and cultivation of the beautiful, and the business of making money, has arrived in this prosaic city, where dollars and cents rank high, and where beauty is valued only for its money value. Last evening’s train over the Cheyenne division was delayed about half an hour, and seated in the drawing-room car of the train was the much talked of Oscar Wilde, who manifested some regret and annoyance at the unexpected delay. The aesthete is not handsome, and yet he is remarkably fine-looking. About his person there is an air of refinement, culture, and grace that makes a striking contrast to the typical American man. Oscar Wilde is tall and elegantly proportioned. His head is not large, and yet it is good-sized. His hair, a dark brown, is parted nearly in the middle and is worn long, giving him a somewhat peculiar appearance. His face is long and oval in shape. He wears no beard or mustaches, his mouth is rather large and the lips are full and as bright colored as a girl’s. His teeth are large and not particularly handsome, his forehead is low. His eyes are extremely beautiful; they are blue and very large. His nose is long and thin, and if breeding and blood are indicated by the nose, Mr. Wilde can lay claim to a large quantity of genuine “blue.” His complexion is so clear and beautiful that the maidens may well grow green with envy, for no balm or powder can give to their cheeks the peculiar beauty of the aesthete’s complexion. His hands are well-shaped, his fingers long and tapering as if made to i-xii_1-196_Wild.indd 130 8/4/09 9:11:54 AM April 1882 131 handle beautiful objects or wield the pen while the poetic mind dictates words of fire. His feet are large and well proportioned to his body. Taken all in all, Mr. Wilde can be truly called an elegant-looking gentleman. His looks would indicate that he was the descendant of a well-bred, fine, old English family, and his conversation marks him as a man of sense, strength, and sympathy. During repose his face might be called plain, but when conversing his eyes grow bright, the color rises to his cheeks, his gestures are free and easy, and he is the picture of animation. On the train last evening he wore a pair of dark brown trousers, well cut and neat fitting, and a black velvet coat, rather after the fashion of a sacque. It was cut high in the neck, leaving visible only the necktie, which was a creamcolored silk scarf tied in a large bow. His collar was of fine white linen, and was not noticeably large. He wore a long heavy overcoat of gen d’arme fine cloth, lined throughout with fur, a broad fur collar and deep cuffs finishing the outside of the handsome garment. Around his neck, a gold-colored embroidered scarf hung untied. The ends were fringed. Upon leaving the ear, the scarf was carelessly drawn close about the neck under the overcoat. Upon his head Mr. Wilde wore a large black, or deep blue, slouch hat. Upon the third finger of his right hand he wore a large handsomely carved intaglio ring which was his only ornament. After shaking hands with the News representative Mr. Wilde at once entered into conversation with an ease that is not ordinary even among public speakers. His voice is pleasant...

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