Intro: Part 3 of HPL's 1916 poem "The Smile."
A. "Mark now... at breaking day..."
B. "Watch the climbing sunbeams play..."
C. "The ills of yesternight..."
D. "Prints his smile on every face..."
Compare to Joker's, "Let's put a smile on that face."
E. "The mead with greater splendor spreads..."
F. "Flowers bloom brighter..."
G. "The matin zephyr stirs..."
H. "Lowland maples & mountain firs..."
J. "While shapelier fronds bedeck..."
K. "Around the cottage door..."
Mark now bright Laetus¹, who at breaking day
Delights to watch the climbing sunbeams play:
Pleased with the glow & grateful for the sight,
He casts away the ills of yesternight²;
With smiling grace the auspicious morning greets,
And prints his smile on every face he meets.
For him the mead³ with greener splendour spreads,
And flowers bloom brighter from their dewy beds;
With milder breath the matin⁴ zephyr⁵ stirs
The lowland maples & the mountain firs;
The brook with added joy its chorus chants,
While shapelier fronds⁶ bedeck the fringing plants.
At Laetus's tread behold the infant train,
Distressed by Maestus, all their joy regain:
Around the cottage door in gladness vie,
And bless their smiling squire with laughing eye.
The village throng his sprightly step attend,
For every wight⁷ knows Laetus as his friend:
His beaming glance, by kindly heart endowed,
Reflected shines from all the circling crowd.
Nor with indifference is that glance endowed
Upon his fellows in the traveled road:
Solicitude his generous mien⁸ pervades,
And, duke or churl⁹, each suffering soul he aids.
Deaf to ill rumour, keen to good report,
His lenient judgement is the village court;
The countryside in his forgiving ear
Their sorrows pour, for comfort food & for cheer;
The cares of all his soothing arts beguile,
And from his own, they learn a general smile!
1. Laetus is Latin for "happy."
This word also describes things (like plants) that are thriving.
2. Yesternight is an archaic word meaning "last night."
There's also a yesternoon, yesterweek & yestreen ("yesterday evening")!!
3. Mead - Sorry, not the honey wine!
Instead, a poetic shortening of meadow.
Its plural form is meads, not meadows!
4. Matin is the morning prayer service in some Western Christian churches - especially the British Anglican Church.
It was originally chanted aroundmidnight of the previous night.
But, some churches chant it at dawn.
5. Zephyr was the Greek God of the "West wind."
In Greece, this was a gentle, calming breeze symbolizing the yearly Spring renewal, tranquility & good conditions.
6. A frond is a large divided leaf found on palms, ferns & polypody (which prefers rocky ledges or wet/dry soul edges).
7. Here, Lovecraft used wight to describe "an unfortunate person."
But, it's literary usage once described "spirits, ghosts & other supernatural beings."
8. Mien is "a person's bearing, where it reveals their personality" or "mood."
9. To Shakespeare, a churl was "a rude, ill-bred peasant" or "rustic."
Earlier, it described the "lowest class of free man" in Anglo-Saxon England.
Strangely enough, there was a Mercian leader called King Cearl.
His name changed to ceorl & lost its royal rank along the way to becoming churl.
