I know that this post has very little to do with what we are studying, but since it is one of my favorite festivities, I couldn´t stop myself. I guess you all know a little, if not more, about this American celebration. For Americans, it is a very important day, I an even say that for some, it is even more important than Christmas. And if you think about it, it makes sence, because Christmas has its origins in a Religious belief, the Christian one, and in the States, there is a lot of variety of religions. As a concequence, a lot of people do not celebrated. However, Thanksging is not related to a religion, but to be grateful for what you have, and share a special meal with your family and friends. Not only that, this tradition is exclusively American, and it has been celebrated even before the United Sates became a country, therefore we can say that it is a symbol for the American culture. Here is an example of the influence of this tradition in literature.
A Thanksgiving Poem
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.
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.
We feel that had our merits been
The measure of thy gifts to us,
We erring children, born of sin,
Might not now be rejoicing thus.
No deed of ours hath brought us grace;
When thou wert nigh our sight was dull,
We hid in trembling from thy face,
But thou, O God, wert merciful.
Thy mighty hand o'er all the land
Hath still been open to bestow
Those blessings which our wants demand
From heaven, whence all blessings flow.
Thou hast, with ever watchful eye,
Looked down on us with holy care,
And from thy storehouse in the sky
Hast scattered plenty everywhere.
Then lift we up our songs of praise
To thee, O Father, good and kind;
To thee we consecrate our days;
Be thine the temple of each mind.
With incense sweet our thanks ascend;
Before thy works our powers pall;
Though we should strive years without end,
We could not thank thee for them all.
We have been spared by thy decree,
And now with humble hearts, O Lord,
We come to pay our thanks to thee.
We feel that had our merits been
The measure of thy gifts to us,
We erring children, born of sin,
Might not now be rejoicing thus.
No deed of ours hath brought us grace;
When thou wert nigh our sight was dull,
We hid in trembling from thy face,
But thou, O God, wert merciful.
Thy mighty hand o'er all the land
Hath still been open to bestow
Those blessings which our wants demand
From heaven, whence all blessings flow.
Thou hast, with ever watchful eye,
Looked down on us with holy care,
And from thy storehouse in the sky
Hast scattered plenty everywhere.
Then lift we up our songs of praise
To thee, O Father, good and kind;
To thee we consecrate our days;
Be thine the temple of each mind.
With incense sweet our thanks ascend;
Before thy works our powers pall;
Though we should strive years without end,
We could not thank thee for them all.
by Paul Laurence Dunbar
(1872-1906)
(1872-1906)
Thanksgiving is celebrated the fourth Thursday of November, therefore we almost have three weeks ahead, and I am going to keep on posting things about it! Hope you like it!
I'd say Christmas is not exclusively Christian anymore. Anyway, I'm sorry that Thanksgiving won't become popular here, being so American. Although it's celebrated in Canada too, and I suppose they got it from the States.
ReplyDeleteI really like your post Clara:)
ReplyDeleteStarla, why do you think Canada got Thanksgiving from US if they were celebrating it before the States independece?
see you tomorrow
Starla, they do celebrate Thanksgiving in Canada, but since the year 1957, the Canadians celebrate it the second Monday of October, that coincides with Columbus Day in the United States. However, I do not think there are a lot more differences. Maybe there are some more now, but surely that at the beginning they used to celebrate it the same way! =) I am glad you like my post Luis! =) and thanks for ccommenting, because that is encouraging!! =)
ReplyDeleteThanks to you Clara (I don't wanna call you 'Clarissa', your real name is much more prettier lol) for posting about your culture, cause we learn a lot of stuff. xx
ReplyDelete