Gratitude

Eternal gratitude—a long, thin word:

When meant, oftenest left unheard:

When light on the tongue, light in the purse too;

Of curious metallurgy: when coined true

It glitters not, is neither large nor small:

More worth than rubies—less, times, than a ball.

Not gift, nor willed: yet through its wide range

Buys what it buys exact, and leaves no change.

Old Gurney had it, won on a hot day