Thou hast given so much to me, Give one thing more, — a grateful heart; Not thankful when it pleaseth me, As if Thy blessings had spare days, But such a heart whose pulse may be Thy praise.

These lines come from George Herbert’s devotional lyric “Gratefulness,” written in the early 17th century and published posthumously in 1633 in The Temple. Herbert (1593–1633), an Anglican priest and former Cambridge orator, shaped his poetry around the rhythms of prayer, self-examination, and gratitude. In “Gratefulness,” the speaker addresses God directly, acknowledging an abundance of divine gifts and asking for one further gift: the inward capacity to respond rightly. The poem reflects the Protestant devotional emphasis on the heart’s disposition rather than outward performance, and it exemplifies Herbert’s characteristic plain yet intricate style—turning a personal petition into a disciplined spiritual meditation.

The speaker’s request—“a grateful heart”—suggests that gratitude is not merely a spontaneous feeling but a grace that must be given and sustained. Herbert contrasts intermittent thankfulness (“when it pleaseth me”) with a constant, embodied gratitude that does not treat blessings as occasional (“spare days”) but as continuous. The image of a heart whose “pulse may be Thy praise” fuses physiology and devotion: praise should be as regular and involuntary as a heartbeat. The passage thus reframes gratitude as a way of life, not a mood—an ongoing orientation of the self toward God that transforms ordinary living into worship.