10 Thanksgiving Poems | Classics & Harvest-Themed Verses

Whether they’re about gratitude, food, family, or fall, Thanksgiving poems capture the warmth and abundance of the holiday. They’re perfect for reflecting on what you’re grateful for, sharing with students, quoting in Thanksgiving toasts, or designing place cards. Some of the most classic Thanksgiving poems and harvest-themed verses include:

• “The New England Boy’s Song: About Thanksgiving Day” by Lydia Maria Child (1844)
• “The Pumpkin” by John Greenleaf Whittier (1846)
• “Thanksgiving Turkey” by George Parsons Lathrop (1876)
• “A Thanksgiving Poem” by Paul Laurence Dunbar (1890)
• “Thanksgiving” by Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1896)
• “Fire Dreams” by Carl Sandburg (1918)
• “Thanksgiving Time” by Langston Hughes (1921)
• “To Autumn” by John Keats (1820)
• “The Harvest Moon” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1878)
• “In Harvest” by Sophie Jewett (1910)

Keep reading to learn more about these Thanksgiving poems and why their words still resonate.

Classic Thanksgiving poems

These classic Thanksgiving poems (sorted from oldest to newest) remind us that the Thanksgiving traditions of today have connected families and friends for generations.

The New England Boy’s Song: About Thanksgiving Day 

Most people know Lydia Maria Child’s 1844 poem “The New England Boy’s Song … ” by its iconic first line: “Over the river and through the woods.” Child was a prolific and influential writer who edited America’s first children’s magazine and wrote historical fiction.

The poem became so popular that it was eventually set to music and became a standard school song by the 1900s. Narrated from the perspective of a young boy, it captures the excitement of visiting grandparents for Thanksgiving.

“The New England Boy’s Song: About Thanksgiving Day” by Lydia Maria Child (stanzas 1–2) 

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 ‘t is Thanksgiving day.

The Pumpkin

John Greenleaf Whittier’s 1846 poem “The Pumpkin” celebrates the quintessential Thanksgiving dessert. The stanza below also captures the tradition of reuniting with family from near and far.

“The Pumpkin” by John Greenleaf Whittier (stanza 3)

Ah! on Thanksgiving day, when from East and from West,
From North and from 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 lip and what brightens the eye?
What calls back the past, like the rich Pumpkin pie?

Thanksgiving Turkey

First published in an 1876 issue of Harper’s Magazine, “Thanksgiving Turkey” offers a fun reminder that turkey has been the traditional Thanksgiving centerpiece for a very long time (even if it wasn’t part of the first Thanksgiving). The rhyme and repetition of George Parson Lathrop’s classic Thanksgiving poem make it especially festive.

“Thanksgiving Turkey” by George Parsons Lathrop (stanzas 1–3) 

Valleys lay in sunny vapor,
And a radiance mild was shed
From each tree that like a taper
At a feast stood. Then we said,
“Our feast, too, shall soon be spread,
Of good Thanksgiving turkey.”

And already still November
Drapes her snowy table here.
Fetch a log, then; coax the ember;
Fill your hearts with old-time cheer;
Heaven be thanked for one more year,
And our Thanksgiving turkey!

Welcome, brothers—all our party
Gathered in the homestead old!
Shake the snow off and with hearty
Hand-shakes drive away the cold;
Else your plate you’ll hardly hold
Of good Thanksgiving turkey.

A Thanksgiving Poem

Paul Laurence Dunbar was one of the first internationally acclaimed African American poets. When he published “A Thanksgiving Poem” in 1890, he was 18 years old. This prayer-like Thanksgiving poem expresses gratitude for abundance and protection. The images of plentiful crops and successful harvests in this excerpt are common in Thanksgiving literature.

“A Thanksgiving Poem” by Paul Laurence Dunbar (stanzas 1–2) 

The sun hath shed its kindly light,
Our harvesting is gladly o’er
Our fields have felt no killing blight,
Our bins are filled with goodly store.

From pestilence, fire, flood, and sword
We have been spared by thy decree,
And now with humble hearts, O Lord,
We come to pay our thanks to thee.

Thanksgiving 

With its simple rhyme scheme and approachable diction, Ella Wheeler Wilcox’s 1896 poem “Thanksgiving” reminds readers to show gratitude for everyday joys and to live in the present moment. In the third stanza excerpted below, Wilcox compares blessings to loyal friends.

“Thanksgiving” by Ella Wheeler Wilcox (stanza 3) 

There’s not a day in all the year
But holds some hidden pleasure,
And looking back, joys oft appear
To brim the past’s wide measure.
But blessings are like friends, I hold,
Who love and labor near us.
We ought to raise our notes of praise
While living hearts can hear us.

Fire Dreams

Carl Sandburg’s poem “Fire Dreams” is part of the 1918 collection Corn Huskers, for which he was awarded a Pulitzer Prize. When Sandburg published the poem, he included “Written to be read aloud, if so be, Thanksgiving Day” before the first stanza.

“Fire Dreams” by Carl Sandburg

I remember here by the fire,
In the flickering reds and saffrons,
They came in a ramshackle tub,
Pilgrims in tall hats,
Pilgrims of iron jaws,
Drifting by weeks on beaten seas,
And the random chapters say
They were glad and sang to God.

And so
Since the iron-jawed men sat down
And said, “Thanks, O God,”
For life and soup and a little less
Than a hobo handout to-day,
Since gray winds blew gray patterns of sleet on Plymouth Rock,
Since the iron-jawed men sang “Thanks, O God,”
You and I, O Child of the West,
Remember more than ever
November and the hunter’s moon,
November and the yellow-spotted hills.

And so
In the name of the iron-jawed men
I will stand up and say yes till the finish is come and gone.
God of all broken hearts, empty hands, sleeping soldiers,
God of all star-flung beaches of night sky,
I and my love-child stand up together to-day and sing: “Thanks, O God.”

Thanksgiving Time

Langston Hughes published “Thanksgiving Time” in a children’s magazine in 1921 when he was 20 years old. The repetition of “It’s Thanksgiving Time” at the end of each stanza is a literary technique called epistrophe, which is common in famous speeches and music.

“Thanksgiving Time” by Langston Hughes 

When the night winds whistle through the trees and blow the crisp brown leaves a-crackling down,
When the autumn moon is big and yellow-orange and round,
When old Jack Frost is sparkling on the ground,
It’s Thanksgiving Time!

When the pantry jars are full of mince-meat and the shelves are laden with sweet spices for a cake,
When the butcher man sends up a turkey nice and fat to bake,
When the stores are crammed with everything ingenious cooks can make,
It’s Thanksgiving Time!

When the gales of coming winter outside your window howl,
When the air is sharp and cheery so it drives away your scowl,
When one’s appetite craves turkey and will have no other fowl,
It’s Thanksgiving Time!

Thanksgiving poems about fall

Poems about fall foliage and autumn harvests are also perfect for Thanksgiving (even if they’re not explicitly about Thanksgiving Day). The rich imagery in the poems below provide inspiration for Thanksgiving decorating and personal reflection.

To Autumn

John Keats was a British poet, but the images of apples and gourds in “To Autumn” (published in 1820) are spot on for Thanksgiving. The poem is also perfect for reflecting on the transition from summer to fall.

“To Autumn” by John Keats (stanza 1)

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;
To bend with apples the moss’d cottage-trees,
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;
To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,
And still more, later flowers for the bees,
Until they think warm days will never cease,
For summer has o’er-brimm’d their clammy cells.

The Harvest Moon

During the 1800s, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and other popular poets who focused on familiar themes became known as the Fireside Poets because their work was commonly read aloud for family entertainment. As such, Longfellow’s “The Harvest Moon” (published in 1878) is a perfect read-aloud for Thanksgiving gatherings or classroom activities.

“The Harvest Moon” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 

It is the Harvest Moon! On gilded vanes
And roofs of villages, on woodland crests
And their aerial neighborhoods of nests
Deserted, on the curtained window-panes
Of rooms where children sleep, on country lanes
And harvest-fields, its mystic splendor rests!
Gone are the birds that were our summer guests,
With the last sheaves return the laboring wains!
All things are symbols: the external shows
Of Nature have their image in the mind,
As flowers and fruits and falling of the leaves;
The song-birds leave us at the summer’s close,
Only the empty nests are left behind,
And pipings of the quail among the sheaves.

In Harvest

Sophie Jewett’s 1910 poem “In Harvest” beautifully captures the quiet splendor of the late harvest season. As the speaker lingers among golden fields and ripening grain, the imagery evokes the richness of nature’s gifts and the fleeting beauty of autumn. Like Thanksgiving itself, the poem invites readers to pause and appreciate the fullness of the moment.

“In Harvest” by Sophie Jewett 

Mown meadows skirt the standing wheat;
I linger, for the hay is sweet,
New-cut and curing in the sun.
Like furrows, straight, the windrows run,
Fallen, gallant ranks that tossed and bent
When, yesterday, the west wind went
A-rioting through grass and grain.
To-day no least breath stirs the plain;
Only the hot air, quivering, yields
Illusive motion to the fields
Where not the slenderest tassel swings.
Across the wheat flash sky-blue wings;
A goldfinch dangles from a tall,
Full-flowered yellow mullein; all
The world seems turning blue and gold.
Unstartled, since, even from of old,
Beauty has brought keen sense of her,
I feel the withering grasses stir;
Along the edges of the wheat,
I hear the rustle of her feet:
And yet I know the whole sea lies,
And half the earth, between our eyes.

Frequently asked questions about Thanksgiving poems

What are some poems about gratitude?

Some poems about gratitude include:

• “Mindful” by Mary Oliver
• “The Delight Song of Tsoai-talee” by N. Scott Momaday
• “A List of Praises” by Anne Porter
• “Dusting” by Marilyn Nelson
• “Thanksgiving” by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

When you’re curious about different types of poems, QuillBot’s AI Chat can provide detailed and helpful answers.

What are some Thanksgiving poems for kids?

Thanksgiving poems for kids include “The New England Boy’s Song about Thanksgiving Day” by Lydia Maria Child and “Thanksgiving Time” by Langston Hughes.

Child was the editor of the first American children’s magazine during the early 1800s. Her poem includes the iconic lines “Over the river and through the woods to grandfather’s house we go.” It describes a child’s excitement about visiting grandparents for Thanksgiving.

Hughes was a prominent Harlem Renaissance writer, and he published “Thanksgiving Time” in a monthly children’s magazine in 1921.

Have you tried QuillBot’s AI Chat for questions about poetry? It can provide quick and detailed answers, and it’s completely free to use.

What are some poems about food?

Some poems about food include:

• “Thanksgiving Turkey” by George Parsons Lathrop
• “The Pumpkin” by John Greenleaf Whittier
• “Wonderbread” by Alfred Corn
• “Onions” by William Matthews
• “Persimmons” by Li-Young Lee
• “Potatoes” by Lucy Adkins
• “Yam” by Bruce Guernsey
• “Blackberrying” by Sylvia Plath

QuillBot’s AI Chat is a great resource for poems about different topics, including poems about food, Thanksgiving poems, and more.

What are some funny Thanksgiving puns?

Some funny Thanksgiving puns are:

• I yam what I yam!
• You’re the apple of my pie.
• Let’s get basted!
• I sure am plucky to be eating this meal!
• Let’s give ‘em pumpkin to talk about.
• It’s so easy to lose track of thyme during the holidays.
• Thankful, blessed, and mashed potato obsessed.

Funny Thanksgiving puns are one type of wordplay jokes. If writing your own puns, QuillBot’s free Paraphraser can help you find creative word choices.

What is a thankful acrostic poem?

A thankful acrostic poem is a poem where the first letter of each line spells out the word “thankful.” For example:

True friends
Heartwarming moments
Appreciating life’s gifts
Nature’s beauty
Kindness and compassion
Finding joy in small things
Underneath the star-filled sky
Living grateful

A thankful acrostic poem is a creative way to express gratitude and can be used for various purposes, such as a Thanksgiving message or as a personal appreciation note.

Are you doubting between greatful and grateful? Let QuillBot’s Grammar Checker help you make the right choice!