LYDIA MARIA CHILD (1802-1880)
THE NEW-ENGLAND BOY'S SONG ABOUT THANKSGIVING DAY
- Original Text: L. Maria Child, Flowers for Children, II (New York: C. S. Francis, 1845): 25-28. Facsimile in Yankee Doodle's Literary Sampler of Prose, Poetry, & Pictures Being an Anthology of Diverse Works Published for the Edification and/or Entertainment of Young Readers in America Before 1900, Selected from the Rare Book Collections of the Library of Congress and Introduced by Virginia Haviland and Margaret N. Coughlan (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1974): 164-67. Z 1232 H38 1974 Robarts Library.
- First Publication Date: 1845.
- Representative Poetry On-line: Editor, I. Lancashire; Publisher, Web Development Group, Inf. Tech. Services, Univ. of Toronto Lib.
- Edition: RPO 2000. © I. Lancashire, Dept. of English (Univ. of Toronto), and Univ. of Toronto Press 2000.
In-text Notes are keyed to line numbers.
1 Over the river, and through the wood,
2 To grandfather's house we go;
3 The horse knows the way,
4 To carry the sleigh,
5 Through the white and drifted snow.
6 Over the river, and through the wood,
7 To grandfather's house away!
8 We would not stop
9 For doll or top,
10 For 't is Thanksgiving day.
11 Over the river, and through the wood,
12 Oh, how the wind does blow!
13 It stings the toes,
14 And bites the nose,
15 As over the ground we go.
16 Over the river, and through the wood,
17 With a clear blue winter sky,
18 The dogs do bark,
19 And children hark,
20 As we go jingling by.
21 Over the river, and through the wood,
22 To have a first-rate play --
23 Hear the bells ring
24 Ting a ling ding,
25 Hurra for Thanksgiving day!
26 Over the river, and through the wood --
27 No matter for winds that blow;
28 Or if we get
29 The sleigh upset,
30 Into a bank of snow.
31 Over the river, and through the wood,
32 To see little John and Ann;
33 We will kiss them all,
34 And play snow-ball,
35 And stay as long as we can.
36 Over the river, and through the wood,
37 Trot fast, my dapple grey!
38 Spring over the ground,
39 Like a hunting hound,
40 For 't is Thanksgiving day!
41 Over the river, and through the wood,
42 And straight through the barn-yard gate;
43 We seem to go
44 Extremely slow,
45 It is so hard to wait.
46 Over the river, and through the wood,
47 Old Jowler hears our bells;
48 He shakes his pow,
49 With a loud bow wow,
50 And thus the news he tells.
51 Over the river, and through the wood --
52 When grandmother sees us come,
53 She will say, Oh dear,
54 The children are here,
55 Bring a pie for every one.
56 Over the river, and through the wood --
57 Now grandmother's cap I spy!
58 Hurra for the fun!
59 Is the pudding done?
60 Hurra for the pumpkin pie!
Source: http://www.library.utoronto.ca/utel/rp/poems/childlm1.html (archive)