Robert Herrick (1591-1674)
A Thanksgiving to God, for his House
1Lord, Thou hast given me a cell
2 Wherein to dwell,
3A little house, whose humble roof
4 Is weather-proof:
5Under the spars of which I lie
6 Both soft, and dry;
7Where Thou my chamber for to ward
8 Hast set a guard
9Of harmless thoughts, to watch and keep
10 Me, while I sleep.
11Low is my porch, as is my fate,
12 Both void of state;
13And yet the threshold of my door
14 Is worn by th' poor,
15Who thither come and freely get
16 Good words, or meat.
17Like as my parlour, so my hall
18 And kitchen's small;
19A little buttery, and therein
20 A little bin,
21Which keeps my little loaf of bread
23Some brittle sticks of thorn or briar
24 Make me a fire,
25Close by whose living coal I sit,
26 And glow like it.
27Lord, I confess too, when I dine,
29And all those other bits, that be
30 There plac'd by Thee;
31The worts, the purslain, and the mess
32 Of water-cress,
33Which of Thy kindness Thou hast sent;
34 And my content
35Makes those, and my beloved beet,
36 To be more sweet.
37'Tis Thou that crown'st my glittering hearth
38 With guiltless mirth;
39And giv'st me wassail-bowls to drink,
40 Spic'd to the brink.
41Lord, 'tis Thy plenty-dropping hand
42 That soils my land;
43And giv'st me, for my bushel sown,
44 Twice ten for one;
45Thou mak'st my teeming hen to lay
46 Her egg each day;
47Besides my healthful ewes to bear
48 Me twins each year;
49The while the conduits of my kine
50 Run cream, for wine.
51All these, and better, Thou dost send
52 Me, to this end,
53That I should render, for my part,
54 A thankful heart,
55Which, fir'd with incense, I resign,
56 As wholly Thine;
57But the acceptance, that must be,
58 My Christ, by Thee.
Notes
5] spars: beams.
22] unflead: whole, not skinned.
28] pulse: peas, beans, etc.
31] worts: pot-herbs.
39] wassail-bowls: bowls of spiced ale or other drink, for toasts.
Online text copyright © 2009, Ian Lancashire (the Department of English) and the University of Toronto.
Published by the Web Development Group, Information Technology Services, University of Toronto Libraries.
Original text: Robert Herrick, Hesperides (London: for John Williams and F. Eglesfield to be sold by Thomas Hunt, 1648), of which a section called "His Noble Numbers: or, his Pious Pieces" has a separate title-page dated 1647. Facs. edn. Menston: Scolar, 1969. PR 3512 H4 1648A ROBA
First publication date:
1648
RPO poem editor: N. J. Endicott
RP edition: 3RP 1.205-06.
Recent editing: 4:2002/2/6
Form: Couplets
Other poems by Robert Herrick
