I THANK Thee, Lord, for precious things Which Thou into my life hast brought; More gratefully my spirit sings Its thanks for all I yet have not, How fair Thy world to me has been! How dear the friends who breathe its air! But who can guess what waits within Thine opening realms, Thy worlds more fair? That which I had has slipped away, Lost in the abysses of the Past; By that I lack am I to-day Heir of Thine undawned aeons vast. The best things joy to me has brought Have been its sigh of yearning pain; Its dreams of bliss unguaged by thought; Its dear despairs, which yet remain. If Thou Thyself at once couldst give, Then wert Thou not the God Thou art: To explore Thy secret is to live, Creation's ever-deepening Heart! To some Thou givest at ease to lie, Content in anchored happiness: Thy breath my full sail swelling, I Across thy broadening seas would press! Dear voyagers, though each nearing oar Around, is music to my ear, Sweeter to hear, far on before, Some swifter boatman call, "Good cheer!" At friendly shores, at peaceful isles, I touch, but may not long delay; Where Thy flushed East with mystery smiles, I steer into the unrisen day. For veils of hope before Thee drawn, For mists that hint the immortal coast Hid in Thy farthest, faintest dawn, -- My God, for these I thank Thee most. Joy, joy! to see, from every shore Whereon my step makes pressure fond, Thy sunrise reddening still before! More light, more love, more life beyond! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE PHANTOM SHIP by HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW TO THE MEMORY OF H-- M-- by BERNARD BARTON PSALM 31. IN TE DOMINE by OLD TESTAMENT BIBLE LARABELLE: CANTO SECOND by LEVI BISHOP CONTRABAND by AVENELLE WILMETH BLAIR |