A Time of Homecoming

Art & Literature

Painters, engravers, poets, novelists, composers, and creators in a variety of other artistic fields have found inspiration and ideas in Thanksgiving generally, and the theme of homecoming in particular.

As with the rest of this prototype Web site, this is a work in progress. Indeed, it's a project still in its infancy. We'd love to hear from you about other materials you know about, in this or other categories, so we can build them into the site. To send us an email, click here; or phone 434 924-9946.

Home for Thanksgiving (Currier and Ives, mid 19th century)
The prints produced by the partnership of businessman Nathaniel Currier (1813-1888), a Roxbury, Mass. native, and James Merritt Ives a New York City-born artist, have acquired iconic status, documenting as well as idealizing a picture of the 19th-century New England and American pasts. Home for Thanksgiving, shown here in detail on the left and in its entirety on the right, has provided a visual emblem of the holiday's family-reunion aspect for generations of Americans. To go to a Web site of Currier and Ives prints, click here.



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"Over the River and Through the Wood" (Lydia Maria Child, 1844)
One of the best-loved songs of many generations of children, written by author and abolitionist Lydia Maria Francis Child (1802-1880), a native of Medford, Massachusetts, evokes a joyous Thanksgiving-Day sleigh ride to grandparents' house. The original title was "The New-England Boy's Song About Thanksgiving."

Over the river, and through the wood, to Grandfather's house we go; the horse knows the way to carry the sleigh through the white and drifted snow. Over the river, and through the wood, to Grandfather's house away! We would not stop for doll or top, for 'tis Thanksgiving Day. 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. with a clear blue winter sky, The dogs do bark and the children hark, as we go jingling by. Over the river, and through the wood, to have a first-rate play. Hear the bells ring, "Ting a ling ding!" Hurray for Thanskgiving Day! Over the river, and through the wood— no matter for winds that blow; Or if we get the sleigh upset into a bank of snow.

Over the river, and through the wood, to see little John and Ann; We will kiss them all, and play snowball and stay as long as we can. Over the river, and through the wood, trot fast my dapple gray! Spring over the ground like a hunting-hound! For 'tis 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— Old Jowler hears our bells; He shakes his paw with a loud bow-wow, and thus the news he tells. Over the river, and through the wood- when Grandmother sees us come, She will say, "O, dear, the children are here, bring pie for everyone." Over the river, and through the wood— now Grandmother's cap I spy! Hurrah for the fun! Is the pudding done? Hurrah for the pumpkin pie!

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"The Pumpkin" (John Greenleaf Whittier, 19th century)
Poet and political reformer John Greenleaf Whittier (1807-1892), a Quaker, was born near Haverhill, Mass.. What follows is the third of the poem's five stanzas. For the entire poem, an ode to the pumpkin in various of its associations (including childhood memories generally, its place in fairy tales, and others), click here.

Ah! on Thanksgiving day, when from East and from West,
From North and South, come the pilgrim and guest,
When the gray-haired New Englander sees round his board
The old broken links of affection restored,
When the care-wearied man seeks his mother once more,
And the worn matron smiles where the girl smiled before.
What moistens the lips and what brightens the eye?
What calls back the past, like the rich pumpkin pie?

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A family gathers for Thanksgiving dinner in wartime
Photographer Howard R. Hollem captures a scene from a the Thanksgiving table of a Maryland family in 1942. The four servicemen are brothers, all in the US Coast Guard. This photograph, part of the Office of War Information's Overseas Picture Division collection, is accessible via the US Library of Congress's American Memory Web site, and is also featured at the Library of Congress's Learning Page, "Primary Source Set for Thanksgiving." The caption on the photograph reads: "Thanksgiving, 1942. Turkey, pumpkin pie, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes--nothing is too good for Uncle Sam's fighting nephews when they come home to Silver Spring, Maryland. The four Coast Guardsmen, eyes riveted on the juicy turkey, watch their father, Wayman Fincham, as he carves. Seated next to him is Mrs. Fincham . . ."




From Leaves of Grass (Walt Whitman, 1855)
One of the long listings so dear to the poetic style of Walt Whitman (1819-1892) includes a reference to Thanksgiving homecomings. The verses come from the beginning of section 15 of his book-length collection of verse, Leaves of Grass. For the complete text of the final version of the entire work (1900), click here.

The pure contralto sings in the organ loft;
The carpenter dresses his plank—the tongue of his foreplane whistles its wild ascending lisp;
The married and unmarried children ride home to their Thanksgiving dinner;
The pilot seizes the king-pin—he heaves down with a strong arm;
The mate stands braced in the whale-boat—lance and harpoon are ready;
The duck-shooter walks by silent and cautious stretches;
The deacons are ordain'd with cross'd hands at the altar;
The spinning-girl retreats and advances to the hum of the big wheel;
. . .

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