“When
the skies are sad and murky,
'Tis a cheerful thing to meet
Round
this homely roast of turkey—
Pilgrims, pausing just to greet,
Then, with earnest grace, to eat
A new Thanksgiving turkey.
“And
the merry feast is freighted
With its meanings true and deep.
Those
we've loved and those we've hated,
All, to-day, the rite will keep,
All, to-day, their dishes heap
With plump Thanksgiving turkey.”—
American
poet, novelist and newspaper editor George Parsons Lathrop
(1851-1898), “Thanksgiving Turkey,” Harper’s, December 1876
