From Generation to Generation

by Sidney S. Stark

Thanksgiving is often the favorite holiday of choice to  celebrate. I’ve heard people say that’s because it has no religious or  specifically personal connotations for them; ‘though if that’s so I’m not sure
who they think is responsible for the bounty being appreciated. But I see the  point of having a marker honored by everyone for whatever reasons they choose.  It’s the collective remembrance that’s important. Some of my loveliest  Thanksgivings have been populated by people with shared values and experiences  rather than DNA.

That said, I recently came across a favorite poem of mine  when doing research for the novella I’m making out of my grandmother’s memoir.  I recited the poem in French at a summer camp I went to when I was eight years  old on Lake Champlain. I found it quite easily (in English) when I typed in the  author’s name, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, while surfing the ‘net. Reading it  again after a lifetime of forgetting, I found the poem has the instinctive  power I remembered as a child and perhaps more than I could have appreciated  then. Other than my maternal grandmother, most of my family avoided the holiday  milestones so I’ve tended to downplay them myself as an adult. In rediscovering  this poem I’ve been reminded of what a big mistake that is.

Thinking of children joining adults at a table to share a  Thanksgiving meal together, I can feel the message of Saint-Exupéry’s poem  filling the air like the warmth of the baking smells that waft from the kitchen  and wrap everyone in wreathes of delight. Please take a few minutes to read  Generation to Generation below, and if anyone would prefer the French version  let me know. I’d be happy to send it on so you can enjoy the gorgeous tempo and  resonance of the words in its original language. Happy Thanksgiving to you all.

Generation to Generation        By Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

In a house which becomes a home,

one hands down and another takes up

the heritage of mind and heart,

laughter and tears, musings and deeds.

Love, like a carefully loaded ship,

crosses the gulf between the generations.

Therefore, we do not neglect the ceremonies

of our passage: when we wed, when we die,

and when we are blessed with a child;

When we depart and when we return;

When we plant and when we harvest.

Let us bring up our children. It is not

the place of some official to hand to them

their heritage.

If others impart to our children our knowledge

and ideals, they will lose all of us that is

wordless and full of wonder.

Let us build memories in our children,

lest they drag out joyless lives,

lest they allow treasures to be lost because

they have not been given the keys.

We live, not by things, but by the meanings

of things. It is needful to transmit the passwords

from generation to generation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: Uncategorized

One Response to From Generation to Generation

  1. I would be very gratefful if you could send me a copy of the original poem in French. I have searched the net in vain!
    Many thanks,
    Mike Burns

We welcome you to the conversation! Please share your thoughts.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.