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Home  »  The World’s Best Poetry  »  The Gifts of God

Bliss Carman, et al., eds. The World’s Best Poetry. 1904.

VI. Human Experience

The Gifts of God

George Herbert (1593–1633)

WHEN God at first made man,

Having a glass of blessings standing by,

Let us (said he) pour on him all we can:

Let the world’s riches, which dispersèd lie,

Contract into a span.

So strength first made a way;

Then beauty flowed, then wisdom, honor, pleasure:

When almost all was out, God made a stay,

Perceiving that, alone, of all his treasure,

Rest in the bottom lay.

For if I should (said he)

Bestow this jewel also on my creature,

He would adore my gifts instead of me,

And rest in Nature, not the God of Nature:

So both should losers be.

Yet let him keep the rest,

But keep them with repining restlessness:

Let him be rich and weary, that, at least,

If goodness lead him not, yet weariness

May toss him to my breast.