Rev. Francis Dane’s Commonplace Book: 52 Ancestors 2020 Prompt “Gratitude”

 

Rev. Francis Dane’s Poem Fragment on Gratitude

 

In my previous post, I wrote about the difficulties of transcribing my tenth great-grandfather’s Commonplace Book. Rev. Francis Dane, the first minister of Andover, Massachusetts, wrote in the book over a forty year period. He used it to make notes, compose poetry and hymns, and draft sermons and letters. One poem fragment I discovered dealt with the topic of gratitude. I have tried to transcribe it below. Any misspellings are copied from the original text:

 “And tell you that my gratefull mind

Do render thanks as much in kind.

Take in g. part this small return now

Though for me yet sure my love doth bestow.

But if I wholley silent were

And after all shouts still forbear,

Then justly you might count me rude

And charge me with ingratitude.”

 I know that I have made some mistakes, particularly in lines three and four, which were damaged and scarcely legible. However, the basic meaning and intent of the poem is clear: that he feels grateful but has trouble expressing his gratitude, which may cause others to judge him as rude and ungrateful.

I find the poetry in the book to be quite charming. It is rough and uneven in meter, so I don’t believe he was copying the works of others, but was composing his own poems. I love getting a glimpse into the mind of this fascinating ancestor of mine.

Image 146: Complete page containing Gratitude poem.

I too am grateful—grateful that this book survived nearly four hundred years, and that the NEHGS generously posted the scans of the book’s pages online for all to access without charge. What a wonderful gift to Rev. Dane’s many descendants, as well as to historians studying early colonial life.