"Don Juan was without it;
In fact, his manner was his own alone:
Sincere he was——
XIV.
"By nature soft, his whole address held off
Suspicion: though not timid, his regard
Was such as rather seem'd to keep aloof,
To shield himself than put you on your guard.
XV.
"Serene, accomplish'd, cheerful, but not loud,
Insinuating without insinuation;
Observant of the foibles of the crowd,
Yet ne'er betraying this in conversation;
Proud with the proud, yet courteously proud,
So as to make them feel he knew his station
And theirs:—without a struggle for priority
He neither brook'd nor claim'd superiority.
XVI.
"That is with men: with women he was what
They pleased to make or take him for."—Canto xv.
LIV.
"There was the purest Platonism at bottom
Of all his feelings."—Canto x.
[3] Ste. Beuve, "Nouveaux Lundis," vol. iii. p. 28.