Thanksgiving poems; World Cup group games 3–16
Paul Laurence Dunbar, “A Thanksgiving Poem”:
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Robert Herrick, “Grace for a Child”:
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I am thankful for the World Cup, to which I awake at five each morning. I’ve now seen each team play in one game – even Portugal and Ghana, who played while we were traveling to Fort Wayne for our holiday gathering (I watched them on my phone). These teams seem best: Brazil; France, hugely talented but not clinical enough; England, utterly businesslike; and Spain, the slickest and most ruthless team so far.
Argentina and Germany already have lost (to Saudi Arabia and Japan, respectively). Croatia and Uruguay have drawn – respectably enough, to my way of thinking. Denmark, Portugal, and the Netherlands won or drew in more underwhelming fashion. Serbia was dominated by Brazil but impressed at least as favorably as these other teams. Similarly impressive, and most surprising, was Saudi Arabia.
Ecuador will play against the Netherlands tomorrow.
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
The sun hath shed its kindly light,
Our harvesting is gladly o’er
Our fields have felt no killing blight,
Our bins are filled with goodly store.
From pestilence, fire, flood, and sword
We have been spared by thy decree,
And now with humble hearts, O Lord,
We come to pay our thanks to thee.
We feel that had our merits been
The measure of thy gifts to us,
We erring children, born of sin,
Might not now be rejoicing thus.
No deed of ours hath brought us grace;
When thou were nigh our sight was dull,
We hid in trembling from thy face,
But thou, O God, wert merciful.
Thy mighty hand o’er all the land
Hath still been open to bestow
Those blessings which our wants demand
From heaven, whence all blessings flow.
Thou hast, with ever watchful eye,
Looked down on us with holy care,
And from thy storehouse in the sky
Hast scattered plenty everywhere.
Then lift we up our songs of praise
To thee, O Father, good and kind;
To thee we consecrate our days;
Be thine the temple of each mind.
With incense sweet our thanks ascend;
Before thy works our powers pall;
Though we should strive years without end,
We could not thank thee for them all.
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
Robert Herrick, “Grace for a Child”:
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
Here, a little child I stand,
Heaving up my either hand:
Cold as paddocks though they be,
Here I lift them up to Thee,
For a benison to fall
On our meat, and on us all. Amen.
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
I am thankful for the World Cup, to which I awake at five each morning. I’ve now seen each team play in one game – even Portugal and Ghana, who played while we were traveling to Fort Wayne for our holiday gathering (I watched them on my phone). These teams seem best: Brazil; France, hugely talented but not clinical enough; England, utterly businesslike; and Spain, the slickest and most ruthless team so far.
Argentina and Germany already have lost (to Saudi Arabia and Japan, respectively). Croatia and Uruguay have drawn – respectably enough, to my way of thinking. Denmark, Portugal, and the Netherlands won or drew in more underwhelming fashion. Serbia was dominated by Brazil but impressed at least as favorably as these other teams. Similarly impressive, and most surprising, was Saudi Arabia.
Ecuador will play against the Netherlands tomorrow.