Sunday, November 20, 2011

As we all prepare to feast and enjoy tne riches of the season, we here at Bluebell bring you,

Over The River

Over the river and through the wood
To Grandmother's house we go.
The horse knows the way
To carry the sleigh
Through white and drifted snow.
Over the river and through the wood
Oh, how the wind does blow!
It stings the toes
And bites the nose,
As over the ground we go.
Over the river and through the wood
To have a first-rate play.
Hear the bells ring,
Ting-a-ling-ling!
Hurrah for Thanksgiving Day!
Over the river and through the wood,
Trot fast, my dapple gray!
Spring over the ground
Like a hunting hound,
For this is Thanksgiving Day.
Over the river and through the wood,
And straight through the barnyard gate.
We seem to go
Extremely slow~
It is so hard to wait!
Over the river and through the wood~
Now Grandmother's cap I spy!
Hurrah for fun!
Is the pudding done?
Hurrah for the pumpkin pie!

This song originally appeared as a poem written by Lydia Maria Child. The poem appeared in Flowers for Children, Vol. 2 in 1844.




Even if the name of the writer appears with the verses, few people today know or remember who Lydia Maria Child was. She was one of the earliest American women to earn a living from her writing. In addition to writing the poem above, Lydia Maria (pronounced Moriah and her preferred name)also wrote several books. She was an early feminist, abolitionist and human rights activist.

But the writing she is most famous for is the poem (and song) sung by old and young alike at this time of year.

Her delightful books (all of them) are available at Amazon.com if you would like to read more.


Have a happy and safe holiday weekend everyone and we will see you back here next Monday for another poetry review!

Indie

2 comments:

Belva Rae Staples said...

Thanks for posting this. I've always loved this song, but never knew who wrote it.

Anonymous said...

lovely choice,
:)