The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1921-11-21

paSe have embodied their gfAtitude
koe ths blssslngs Of thA year il vsrse.
~ umss the burden u their song has
Incorporated the tims-honored custom
~ which one day o. tho year 10 set
apart for the giving Of thanks.
Perhaps Thanksgiving recalls to,
them mothers ingenuity and skill In
making pumpkin piea. and 90 in q
4uaintly humorous way the poet pays
f1ibute to the pumpkin and the prod
net thereof.
Again the spirit Of these November
poems embodies a Thanksgiving Joy
ana freedom from sorrow; for health
and happiness; for things spiritual and
physical.
At any rate, ever since Thanksgiy.
Ing has been proclaimed national
holiday the poet has found Inspiration
Tor his art and by means Of his verses
has awakened a sympathetic chord ii
the breasts Of many men and women.
Although nearly, all Of the poems Of
James Whitcomb Riley contain an es-
sence Of this spirit Of gratitude with
the existing order Of things, some Of
these are specifically devoted to the
day itself. Among these the poem
entitled Thanksgiving" is one Of the
best.
Let us be thankful-not only because
! Since last our universal thanks were
4 told
We have grown greater in the worlds
applause.
And fortunes newer smiles surpass the
old
But thankful for all things that come as
aims
From out the open hand of Providence,
The winter clouds and storms-the sum-
mer calms-
The sleepless dread-the browse Of in
dolence.
Let us be thankful-thankful for the
Whose gracious answers were long,
long delayed,
That they might fall upon us unawares.
And bless us. as in greater need we
prayed.
Let US be thankful for the loyal hand
That love held out in welcome to our
own.
When love. and only love- could UNDER
stand
The need of touches we had never
known.
Let us be thankful for the longing eyes
That gave their secret to us as they
wept,
Yet in return found. with sweet sur
prise,
Loves touch upon their lids. and, smil-
ing. slept.
And let us. too. be thankful that the
OF sorrow have not all been drained
away,
That through them still, for all the COM
ing years.
We may look on the dead face Of today.
WIN Carleton, the New England
poet, strikes the universal note Of
thanks in his hymn, part Of which
follows:
We thank Thee. Father. for all that 10
bright
The CLEAN of the day and the stars Of
the night;
The flowers Of our youth and the fruits
of our prime,
And the blessings that march down the
pathways Of time.
We thank Thee. o Father. for all that
is drear-
The sob Of the tempest, the flow of the
tear:
For never in blindness and never in vain
Thy mercy permitted sorrow or pain.
The spirit Of unembittered resigna-
lion at approaching death is ex-
pressed in poem by Edith M. Thomas
IN IA Last Thanksgiving"
When 1t is time for me to go
Time Of the rose-or falling snow
Or when new winds wake vernal strife,
This to the world I've cherished So
II have been thankful for my life."
When night and shade together flow.
When dawns some scene not vet know,
Let me draw back one fiuttering breath.
% say. to all I've loved below,
II have been thankful-in my deathw
aHow John Quit the Farm" is
arrstive poem By the Hoosier poet,
"A combines pathos as well as quaint
1885, =.s-sar.sssss,:.=.Sns--v