Gracious

by John Herlihy

Gracious once considered a graceful word,

Marked today as an old-fashioned word.

A word that originally meant full of grace,

Ave Mara, gratia plena, Hail Mary, full of grace.

Very gracious originally derived from valde gratiosus.

While most gracious expressed as maxime gratiosus,

Originally, merciful, compassionate, full of grace,

Later to evolve as courteous, refined, tactful of face.

As God is gracious, so the king gracious in victory,

Later a woman’s gracious smile steeped in mystery.

Good gracious or gracious me, as element of surprise,

Gracious heavens that only grandmother could devise.

Gracious turned to graceful as in full of God’s grace,

Slender as a reed or as delicate as a flower in a vase.

The word diverged again into a more prosaic grateful,

Grateful for help or the grateful patient, never pitiful.

The divergence of gracious from graceful to grateful,

Kind courtesy to elegant beauty to simply thankful.

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Copyright © John Herlihy

Wednesday 26 November 2025