Thursday, May 1, 2008

May Day

Happy May Day!


A stanza from Alfred Loyd Tennyson's "The May Queen."

The honeysuckle round the porch has woven its wavy bowers,
And by the meadow-trenches blow the faint sweet cuckoo-flowers;
And the wild marsh-marigold shines like fire in swamps and hollows gray,
And I’m to be Queen o’ the May, mother, I’m to be Queen o’ the May.

About the May Day Queen . . .

The May Queen is also known as The Maiden, the goddess of spring, flower bride, queen of the faeries, and the lady of the flowers. The May Queen is a symbol of the stillness of nature around which everything revolves. She embodies purity, strength and the potential for growth, as the plants grow in May. She is one of many personifications of the energy of the earth.

She was once also known as Maid Marian in the medieval plays of Robin Hood and of the May Games - she is the young village girl, crowned with blossom, attended by children with garlands and white dresses. Some folklorists have drawn parallels between her and Maia, the Roman Goddess of Springtime, of Growth and Increase whose very name may be the root of "May".
--netglimpse.com

3 comments:

carrie said...

Happy May Day to you! You have a beautiful family! :)

carolyn said...

Happy May Day to you and yours.

alice c said...

How lovely! I had completely forgotten that when I was a little girl there was a May Day procession at school and the prettiest girl was chosen as Queen of the May and wore a flower garland. Needless to say - it was not me!