"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.
The first of 8 stanzas of a poem titled "Gratefulnesse".
For reasons that may well be not too reasonable, I find the older form of the word, gratefulnesse, more expressive of what Herbert struggled to say.
When enunciated slowly, the voice emphasises the middle syllable 'ful', which sits nicely balanced between two five letter syllables. Fanciful? Literary dielttantism? Maybe.
But I find gratefulnesse, both written and spoken, a more generous word than gratitude.
Herbert is always aware of his indebtedness, that so much of what is best in life is gift from the Thou on whose grace his 'I' depends. God is generous, and it's personal.
Normally when we are the glad receivers of generosity, we say thank you, we are humbled by people's kindness and regard for us, their gifts and the heart that gave them affirm and encourage us. The last thing we would think of is to ask for something else; more.
Herbert knows he skates on thin relational ice, but that's the way it will always be when there is such imbalance in a friendship. So he writes a poem, this beggar has nothing to give but his skill with words, his art.
But he doesn't give his art. He uses it, as persuasion, as a process of persuading God to give him the gift of thankfulness, and in the process of writing the poem he moves from petition to…gratefulnesse.
This is acute psychological and spiritual self-direction. We become grateful by being in the habit of saying thank you. Thanksgiving is a mixture of emotional gladness for the gift, disciplined acknowledgement of debt, and a reassurance of regard and friendship.
The petition for a 'gratefull' heart uses Herbert's favourite stratagem of paradox, that one who has been given so much, is so overwhelmed by the generosity of the giver, he's not sure how to say thank you. But instinctively he knows that only through the further gift of gratitude will his thanks be adequate.And even then.
His heart if full, and finding words for that experience of the full heart requires his utmost art, and also the one thing more, a gratefull heart, a heart filled with grace, a heart so full of what God has given, that it needs God's help to say thank you.
It's quite a thought. And by the time we get to the end of the poem, Herbert knows exactly what is needed, and who can give it:
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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