THESE ARE THE GIFTS I ASK (A Poem by Henry Van Dyke)

 

THESE  ARE  THE  GIFTS  I  ASK

    (A Poem by Henry Van Dyke)

 

Henry Van Dyke (1852-1933) was an American clergyman, author and diplomat.  Between 1899 and 1923 , he was, for more than two decades, a professor of English literature in Princeton University. During the years 1908-09, he served as an American lecturer at the University of Paris. It was in 1913 that his former classmate, President Woodrow Wilson, appointed him Minister to the Netherlands and Luxembourg.

 

Henry Dyke is famous for a host of readable books like: The Story of the Other Wise Man; The Mansion; The First Christmas Tree; Little Rivers: A Book of Essays in Profitable Idleness; The Poems of Henry Dyke and the builders and other poem. All these books are still available all over the world.

 

Henry Dyke is also remembered for some of his wonderful quotes:  

 

“Time  is too slow for those who wait, two swift for those who fear, too long for those who grieve, too short for those wo rejoice, but for those who love, time is eternity.”

 

“A friend is what the heart needs all the time.”

 

“Some succeed because  they are determined to succeed, but most succeed because they are determined to.“     

 

“Some people ae so afraid to die that they never begin to live.”

 

“Be glad of life because it gives you the chance to love, to work, to play, and to look        up at the stars.”

 

“Happiness is inward, and not outward, and so, it does not depend on what we have, but on what we are.”

 

             “THESE ARE THE GIFTS I ASK” is one of the best-loved poems of Henry Dyke.  It is very short, but very significant. Its text reads as follows:

 

            THESE are the gifts I ask

            Of Thee, Spirit serene:

            Strength for the daily task,

            Courage to face the road,

            Good cheer to help me bear the traveler’s load,

            And , for the hours of rest that come between,

                          An inward joy of all things heard and seen.

              These are the sins I fain

              Would have Thee take away

               Malice and cold disdain,

               Hot anger, sullen hate,

               Scorn of the lowly, envy of the great,

               And discontent that casts a shadow gray

               On all the brightness of the common day.

                                      

Anthologists  have appropriately included this poem in the ‘Faith and Immortality’ section. The poet’s prayer here is addressed  to God , Spirit serene’. He wants Him to grant some gifts. Before we proceed further, let us note that gifts are not rights. They come to us as tokens of love or boons and  benedictions which you can turn into your natural attributes, and can use them,  as in  this poem,  to get rid of such behavioural infirmities which succeed in  robbing  you of your much-needed  serenity in day-to-day affairs,

 

In the first stanza of the poem,  the poet seeks from God the qualities of an upright, strong man who can firmly discharge his daily duties, bear the burden which a traveller has  carry on his head while walking on the tedious road of life. The journey is long, but dotted   with intervals,  during which the poet wants ‘An inward joy of all things heard and seen.’

 

According to the poet, the serenity sought by him cannot be obtained , if by  the blessings of God, he does not liberate himself from the evils of malice, cold disdain, hot anger, sullen hate, scorn of the lowly , the envy of the great and the discontentment which turns a bright day into a shadowy one.     

             

            The central idea of the poem is that we inevitably need divine help both in acquiring cardinal virtues and abandoning deadly vices.      

 

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30 July 2021                                                                                    G.R.Kanwal