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.

These lines open Lydia Maria Child’s popular Thanksgiving poem, first published in the early 1840s, depicting a child’s excited winter journey by sleigh to visit grandparents. Child (1802–1880) was a prominent American author and reformer—known for abolitionist writing as well as children’s literature—who wrote the poem for a juvenile audience at a time when seasonal verse and moral domestic scenes were staples of American periodicals and gift books. Although later widely treated as a Thanksgiving piece, the poem’s imagery is broadly wintertime and family-centered, helping it endure as a nostalgic portrait of 19th‑century rural travel and holiday visiting traditions.

The stanza captures the buoyant anticipation of a family visit, using simple rhythms and concrete images—river, woods, sleigh, drifting snow—to evoke motion and warmth amid cold surroundings. The line “The horse knows the way” personifies the animal as a steady guide, suggesting the comfort of familiar routes and inherited customs. Beyond its surface charm, the verse celebrates intergenerational connection and the security of homecoming: nature may be wintry and challenging, but the destination (grandfather’s house) promises welcome and abundance. Its enduring popularity reflects how effectively it condenses holiday travel into a child’s perspective of excitement, trust, and tradition.

1) “Over the river and through the woods, / To Grandmother’s house we go.”
2) “Over the river and through the woods, / To Grandfather’s house we go.”