One of those wild swashbucklers in a masque -
Hat with three plumes, and doublet with six points -
His cloak behind him over his long sword
Cocked, like the tail of a strutting Chanticleer -
Prouder than all the swaggering Tamburlaines
Hatched out of Gascony. And to complete
This Punchinello figure - such a nose! -
My lords, there is no such nose as that nose -
(Edmond Rostand, Cyrano de Bergerac, Brian Hooker
Translation, Act I)
This is the second installment in my new series of portraits of memorable literary characters. And who is more memorable or more of a character than Cyrano?
