Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Lydia Maria Child's Thanksgiving - The children are here, Bring a pie for every one.

The end of "The New-England Boy's Song About Thanksgiving Day" (1844)

by Lydia Maria Child

Over the river, and through the wood -
When grandmother sees us come,
She will say, Oh dear,
The children are here,
Bring a pie for every one.

Over the river, and through the wood -
Now grandmother's cap I spy!
Hurra for the fun!
Is the pudding done?
Hurra for the pumpkin pie!

Well, I don't really think this is much of a poem, but, like our new President, I am strongly pro-pie. I am scheduling this post in advance, so at this exact moment it is likely that I am either making or eating pie.

Actually, I like the way grandma sounds vaguely worried that the hellions have arrived, and plans to keep them torpid by giving each one an entire pie.

Happy Thanksgiving!

6 comments:

  1. Both of your poems made me laugh - may you enjoy lots of pie today!

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  2. Funny! Funny! Love it! Thanks for the laugh. I've been enjoying pie for five days now--time to throw it out!

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  3. Time to throw it out, and then bake a new pie.

    I don't think these verses were in my grade school songbook. I'll bet that anti-pie nutritionists suppressed them.

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  4. Do you know John Greenleaf Whittier's "Ode to Pumpkin Pie"? Also worth a look and a laugh--as is most of his poetry, poor man.

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  5. The Library of America omits "The Pumpkin" from its Whittier collection, if you can believe that.

    What moistens the lip and what brightens the eye?
    What calls back the past, like the rich Pumpkin pie?

    As the internet says, OMG!

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