Poems of Gratitude: Verses to Prepare Us for Thanksgiving

The casual statement “It is something,” which is repeated throughout the poem belies the magnitude of these blessings. To have felt deeply (even if that feeling is grief), to have experienced what no one else has experienced (even if it is a quiet moment of silence while others sleep), and to love (even if we love what is passing away) make up defining points in our lives, and our lives are inherently good. In fact, the speaker says that even if he were to lose the one he loves, it would still be worthwhile to have lived. He addresses the poem to one he loves, saying of this love that, “It were something, though you went from me today.”
The speaker is keenly aware of not only individual loss but also of the evil in the world at large. Even when surrounded by those who do not know the goodness of their own lives (“fatted lives that of their sweetness tire”) and when present “in a world of flying loves and fading lusts,” where no one else is steadfast in their affections, the speaker gives thanks all the more that he can be “sure of a desire.” Because of the vastness of the evil the speaker describes, the would-be small scale blessings he describes seem all the more miraculous.
In these three poems, we observe how gratitude is maintained throughout pain and hardship, in complete loss, and towards simple, everyday blessings. In every circumstance, the conscious decision to give thanks directs our thoughts to the source of whatever it is we are currently receiving. The primary function of gratitude, then, is that in seeing everything as a gift, our minds are turned outward to the giver. Our thoughts find their natural expression in praise, both of others and of the ultimate source of all goodness.