Poems (Coates 1916)/Volume II/Thanksgiving

by Florence Earle Coates

For other versions of this work, see Thanksgiving (Coates, "Now gracious plenty rules the board").

THANKSGIVING

NOW gracious plenty rules the board,
And in the purse is gold;
By multitudes in glad accord
Thy giving is extolled.
Ah, suffer me to thank Thee, Lord,
For what thou dost withhold!

I thank Thee that howe'er we climb
There yet is something higher;
That though through all our reach of time
We to the stars aspire,
Still, still beyond us burns sublime
The pure sidereal fire!

I thank Thee for the unexplained,
The hope that lies before,
The victory that is not gained,—
O Father, more and more
I thank Thee for the unattained,
The good we hunger for!

I thank Thee for the voice that sings
To inner depths of being;
For all the spread and sweep of wings,
From earthly bondage freeing;
For mystery—the dream of things
Beyond our power of seeing!