The New-England Boy's Song about Thanksgiving Day
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.
1Over 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.
6Over 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.
11Over 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.
16Over 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.
21Over 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!
26Over 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.
31Over 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.
36Over 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!
41Over 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.
46Over the river, and through the wood,
47 Old Jowler hears our bells;
49 With a loud bow wow,
50 And thus the news he tells.
51Over 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.
56Over 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!
Notes
48] pow: head. Back to Line
Publication Start Year
1845
RPO poem Editors
Ian Lancashire
RPO Edition
RPO 2000.
Rhyme