'Unselfseeking, Undeceptive, Uncorrupt Gift'

In his Dictionary, Dr. Johnson defines smile as “a slight contraction of the face.” That’s accurate as far as it goes but might also describe the expression rendered by gas pains or the arrival of boring party guests. Faces are what we look at first and by nature we are equipped to read them and speculate as to the intent behind them. Even the toothiest smile – often signaling aggression among mammals – is at least briefly a welcome sign, though a purse-snatcher or used-car salesman also use smiles. Beware of the perpetual smile, the rictus. Most pleasing is the spontaneous smile when a friend or loved one sees us. It suggests we are a gift to them and their smile is a small, pleasing gift in return. There’s a lovely passage in Paradise Lost in which Adam says of Eve: 

“. . . this sweet intercourse

Of looks and smiles; for smiles from reason flow,

To brute denied, and are of love the food,

Love not the lowest end of human life.”

 

My face in repose is not smiling. As a newspaper reporter I learned to practice smiling. When I knocked on the door of a private person never before interviewed, I wished to appear, if not bubbly, at least not threatening. I know the impact an unexpected smile can have on me. In “Saving Grace,” the English poet A.S.J. Tessimond (1902-62) celebrates the simple human gift of a smile:

 

“Fish do not smile, nor birds: their faces are not

Equipped for it. A smiling dog’s the illusion

And wish-fulfilment of its owner. Cats wear

Permanent smiles inspired by mere politeness

But human animals at times forget their

Godlike responsibilities; the tension

Slackens, the weasel-sharp intentness falters;

Muscles relax; the eyes refrain from peering

Aside, before and after; and the burden

Of detail drops from forehead; cheekline gently

Creases; the mouth wide-flowers; the stiff mask softens;

And Man bestows his simple, unambitious,

Unservile, unselfseeking, undeceptive,

Uncorrupt gift, the grace-note of a smile.”