A Poem of Thanksgiving

I Thank Thee



O Thou whose bounty fills my cup,

With every blessing meet!

I give Thee thanks for every drop—

The bitter and the sweet.



I praise Thee for the desert road,

And for the riverside;

For all Thy goodness hath bestowed,

And all Thy grace denied.



I thank Thee for both smile and frown,

And for the gain and loss;

I praise Thee for the future crown

And for the present cross.



I thank Thee for both wings of love

Which stirred my worldly nest;

And for the stormy clouds which drove

Me, trembling, to Thy breast.



I bless Thee for the glad increase,

And for the waning joy;

And for this strange, this settled peace

Which nothing can destroy.


--Jane Crewdson (1860)