Friday, November 28, 2008

A Thanksgiving to God for His House by Robert Herrick

Lord, Thou hast given me a cell 
Wherein to dwell; 
An little house, whose humble roof 
Is weather-proof; 
Under the spars of which I lie 
Both soft and dry; 
Where Thou my chamber for to ward 
Hast set a guard 
Of harmless thoughts, to watch and keep 
Me, while I sleep. 
Low is my porch as is my fate, 
Both void of state;
And yet the threshold of my door 
Is worn by'th' poor, 
Who thither come, and freely get 
Good words, or meat; 
Like as my parlour, so my hall 
And kitchen's small; 
A little butterie and therein 
A little bin, 
Which keeps my little loaf of bread 
Unchipp'd, unflay'd; 
Some brittle sticks of thorn or briar 
Make me a fire, 
Close by whose living coal I sit, 
And glow like it. 
Lord, I confess too, when I dine, 
The pulse is Thine,
And all those other bits that be 
There plac'd by Thee; 
The worts, the purslain, and the mess 
Of water-cress, 
Which of Thy kindness Thou hast sent; 
And my content 
Makes those, and my beloved beet, 
To be more sweet. 
'Tis Thou that crown'st my glitt'ring hearth 
With guiltless mirth; 
And giv'st me wassail bowls to drink, 
Spic'd to the brink. 
Lord, 'tis Thy plenty-dropping hand 
That soils my land; 
And giv'st me, for my bushel sown, 
Twice ten for one; 
Thou mak'st my teeming hen to lay 
Her egg each day; 
Besides my healthful ewes to bear 
Me twins each year; 
The while the conduits of my kine 
Run cream (for wine.) 
All these, and better Thou dost send 
Me, to this end, 
That I should render, for my part, 
A thankful heart, 
Which, fir'd with incense, I resign 
As wholly Thine; 
But the acceptance, that must be, 
My Christ, by Thee.


P.S. 
C.'s favorite part of Thanksgiving was chewing on the bones.  Who knew cartilage could be so tasty???  And Sunflower started crawling two days ago.  We're overjoyed at her great accomplishment...and with how much more complicated life is now for us! :)

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

"...beloved beet to be more sweet..." Great line, Herrick! Love C. with the bone. Carnivorous boys make for strong men! LOL! Everyone looks beautiful. Happy Holidays,

Debbie said...

Oh my, you will have to be on your toes now...watch out!

My hubby Brian loves the cartilage...sounds like our cat chonking down on bones. LOL

Always enjoy the pictures of the children.

Anonymous said...

Yea, she is crawling!! Now she will really keep you busy and boy will the boys be surprised at how fast she catches up with them. Missed you all at Thanksgiving but so good to see pictures. They look like they had a wonderful time. Kiss the babies for me.
Love ya,
Mom

Robyn said...

This part, "An little house, whose humble roof Is weather-proof;
Under the spars of which I lie
Both soft and dry;" reminds me to be so thankful for the roof over my head that is weather-proof. Because "rain no wait" as we know all too well, right Tiff? Very nice poem. And G is getting soooooo big and looking sooooo gorgeous! The boys as well! Much love!