1. Come, ye thankful people, come, Raise the song of harvest home; All is safely gathered in Ere the winter storms begin. God, our Maker, doth provide For our wants to be supplied; Come to God's own temple, come Raise the song of harvest home. 2. All the world is God's own field, Fruit unto His praise to yield; Wheat and tares together sown, Unto joy or sorrow grown. First the blade and then the ear, Then the full corn shall appear; Lord of harvest, grant that we Wholesome grain and pure may be. 3. For the Lord our God shall come, And shall take His harvest home; From His field shall in that day All offenses purge away; Give His angels charge at last In the fire the tares to cast, But the fruitful ears to store In His garner evermore. 4. Even so, Lord, quickly come, To Thy final harvest home; Gather Thou Thy people in, Free from sorrow, free from sin; There, forever purified, In Thy presence to abide; Come, with all Thine angels, come Raise the glorious harvest home.
Lyrics:
Henry Alford
Music:
George Job Elvey
Tune: ST. GEORGE'S, WINDSOR
Meter: 7.7.7.7.D.
Henry Alford, 1810–1871
The first thanksgiving was decreed by Governor Bradford in 1621 to commemorate the Pilgrims’ harvest. Later George Washington proclaimed November 26, 1789, as a national day of thanksgiving, but the holiday was not repeated on a national basis until Abraham Lincoln named it a national Harvest Festival on November 26, 1861. After that time, the holiday was proclaimed annually by the President and the governors of each state. Finally in 1941, Congress passed a bill naming the fourth Thursday of each November as Thanksgiving Day.