An appropriate poem for the
Thanksgiving holidays is George Herbert’s “Gratefulness.” Here are stanzas 1-2,
4, & 7-8 from Christian Classics
Ethereal Library:
Gratefulnesse
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THou that hast giv’n so much
to me,
Give one thing more, a gratefull heart.
See how thy beggar works on thee
By art.
He makes thy gifts occasion more,
And sayes, If he in this be crost,
All thou hast giv’n him heretofore
Is
lost.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . .
Perpetuall knockings at thy doore,
Tears sullying thy transparent rooms,
Gift upon gift, much would have more,
And comes.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . .
Wherefore I crie, and crie again;
And in no quiet canst thou be,
Till I a thankfull heart obtain
Of thee:
Not thankfull, when it pleaseth me;
As if thy blessings had spare dayes:
But such a heart, whose pulse may be
Thy praise.
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Herbert begins by calling
himself—particularly his entreaties for a “grateful heart”—a “beggar,” the
antecedent for the pronoun “he” of stanza 2. The logic of stanza 2 is that if
God gives gifts to the speaker but does not give the speaker a heart of
gratitude, there might as well have not been any gifts at all: “Gift upon gift”
(stanza 4), yet these are never enough unless they are accompanied by the gift
of gratitude.
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| Martin Luther's Seal |
Herbert acknowledges in this poem that all
good gifts come from God (James 1:17), including the ability to be thankful. He
plays with this idea throughout by picturing a believer who not only asks, but
begs God incessantly for this ability. He also reminds us that an attitude of
gratitude is one of the greatest gifts of all.
The final stanza delivers a twist: Herbert
wants to have a thankful heart at all times, in all circumstances, not just
when things are going well and he feels grateful. To have a pulse of praise
flowing through one’s body, pumped through it by a grateful heart and
enlivening one’s soul: that lifeblood would be a gift indeed!
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