{
 "id": "ambrose-bierce/matter-for-gratitude",
 "title": "Matter for Gratitude",
 "ordinal": null,
 "subtitle": null,
 "poet": "Ambrose Bierce",
 "poet_slug": "ambrose-bierce",
 "language": "en",
 "book": "Black Beetles in Amber",
 "book_slug": "black-beetles-in-amber",
 "book_kind": "volume",
 "sequence": 5,
 "container": "Black Beetles in Amber",
 "epigraph": null,
 "first_published": {
  "year": 1892,
  "venue": "Black Beetles in Amber (1892)",
  "note": "First located printing is this volume; an earlier periodical printing has not been established.",
  "uncertain": false,
  "sources": [
   "https://archive.org/details/blackbeetlesinam00bier"
  ]
 },
 "source": {
  "kind": "standard-ebooks",
  "repo": "standardebooks/ambrose-bierce_poetry",
  "file": "black-beetles-in-amber.xhtml",
  "upstream": [
   "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/4793",
   "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/12658",
   "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/12977",
   "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/15599",
   "https://archive.org/details/collectedworksof04bierrich",
   "https://archive.org/details/collectedworksof05bierrich",
   "https://archive.org/details/collectedworksof08bierrich",
   "https://archive.org/details/shapesofclay00bier",
   "https://archive.org/details/blackbeetlesinam00bier",
   "https://archive.org/details/literarycalifor05mighgoog",
   "https://archive.org/details/cali07webb"
  ],
  "rights": "public domain (SE dedication; underlying text pre-1931)"
 },
 "verification": {
  "level": "structural-only",
  "last_checked": "2026-08-20",
  "corrections": [
   {
    "line": 2,
    "field": "indent",
    "was": 0,
    "now": 2,
    "why": "Indentation absent from the source markup and measured from the scan: this line starts 6.2 character advances (~3.1 em) right of its own page's base margin, where the verse sets flush. Converted at 3.0 advances per indent level (tools/defects.py indent).",
    "checked_against": "https://archive.org/details/blackbeetlesinam00bier",
    "date": "2026-08-20"
   }
  ]
 },
 "stats": {
  "n_lines": 41,
  "n_stanzas": 4,
  "n_parts": 0,
  "longest_line_chars": 51,
  "max_indent": 2
 },
 "site_ready": true,
 "parts": [],
 "stanzas": [
  [
   {
    "text": "Be pleased, O Lord, to take a people’s thanks",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "That Thine avenging sword has spared our ranks⁠—",
    "indent": 2
   },
   {
    "text": "That thou hast parted from our lips the cup",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And forced our neighbors’ lips to drink it up.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Father of Mercies, with a heart contrite",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "We thank Thee that Thou goest south to smite,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And sparest San Francisco’s loins, to crack",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Thy lash on Hermosillo’s bleeding back⁠—",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "That o’er our homes Thine awful angel spread",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "His wings in vain, and Guaymas weeps instead.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "We praise Thee, God, that Yellow Fever here",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "His horrid banner has not dared to rear,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Consumption’s jurisdiction to contest,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Her dagger deep in every second breast!",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Catarrh and Asthma and Congestive Chill",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Attest Thy bounty and perform Thy will.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "These native messengers obey Thy call⁠—",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "They summon singly, but they summon all.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Not, as in Mexico’s impested clime,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Can Yellow Jack commit recurring crime.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "We thank Thee that Thou killest all the time.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Thy tender mercies, Father, never end:",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Upon all heads Thy blessings still descend,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Though their forms vary. Here the sown seeds yield",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Abundant grain that whitens all the field⁠—",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "There the smit corn stands barren on the plain,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Thrift reaps the straw and Famine gleans in vain.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Here the fat priest to the contented king",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Points to the harvest and the people sing⁠—",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "There mothers eat their offspring. Well, at least",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Thou hast provided offspring for the feast.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "An earthquake here rolls harmless through the land,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And Thou art good because the chimneys stand⁠—",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "There templed cities sink into the sea,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And damp survivors, shrieking as they flee,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Skip to the hills and hold a celebration",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "In honor of Thy wise discrimination.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "O God, forgive them all, from Stoneman down,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Thy smile who construe and expound Thy frown,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And fall with saintly grace upon their knees",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "To render thanks when Thou dost only sneeze.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ]
 ]
}