Chills the Lap of May

And thus the heart will break, yet brokenly live on.
~Lord Byron, from Childe Harold's Pilgrimage

But winter lingering chills the lap of May.
~Oliver Goldsmith, from The Traveller

The Young May Moon

The young May moon is beaming, love,

The glow-worm's lamp is gleaming, love;
        How sweet to rove
        Through Morna's grove,
When the drowsy world is dreaming, love!
Then awake!—the heavens look bright, my dear,
'Tis never too late for delight, my dear;
        And the best of all ways
        To lengthen our days
Is to steal a few hours from the night, my dear!

Now all the world is sleeping, love,
But the Sage, his star-watch keeping, love,
        And I, whose star
        More glorious far
Is the eye from that casement peeping, love.
Then awake!—till rise of sun, my dear,
The Sage's glass we'll shun, my dear,
        Or in watching the flight
        Of bodies of light
He might happen to take thee for one, my dear!

~The Young May Moon, Thomas Moore, 1779-1852, Irish poet and hymnist

The full moon this month (May 14) is known at the Full Flower Moon, also as the Mother's Moon, the Milk Moon, and the Corn Planting Moon.  The first quarter is on May 6th and the last quarter will be May 21st.

Image scanned by Simon Cooke found on the Victorian Web here

Begin Afresh, Afresh, Afresh

The trees are coming into leaf
Like something almost being said;
The recent buds relax and spread,
Their greenness is a kind of grief.

Is it that they are born again
And we grow old? No, they die too,
Their yearly trick of looking new
Is written down in rings of grain.

Yet still the unresting castles thresh
In fullgrown thickness every May.
Last year is dead, they seem to say,
Begin afresh, afresh, afresh."

- Philip Larkin, The Trees

Memento Mori

Gather Ye Rosebuds While Ye May, John William Waterhouse

Get up, get up for shame, the Blooming Morne

Upon her wings presents the god unshorne.

                     See how Aurora throwes her faire

                     Fresh-quilted colours through the aire:

                     Get up, sweet-Slug-a-bed, and see

                     The Dew-bespangling Herbe and Tree.

Each Flower has wept, and bow'd toward the East,

Above an houre since; yet you not drest,

                     Nay! not so much as out of bed?

                     When all the Birds have Mattens seyd,

                     And sung their thankful Hymnes: 'tis sin,

                     Nay, profanation to keep in,

When as a thousand Virgins on this day,

Spring, sooner than the Lark, to fetch in May.

Rise; and put on your Foliage, and be seene

To come forth, like the Spring-time, fresh and greene;

                     And sweet as Flora. Take no care

                     For Jewels for your Gowne, or Haire:

                     Feare not; the leaves will strew

                     Gemms in abundance upon you:

Besides, the childhood of the Day has kept,

Against you come, some Orient Pearls unwept:

                     Come, and receive them while the light

                     Hangs on the Dew-locks of the night:

                     And Titan on the Eastern hill

                     Retires himselfe, or else stands still

Till you come forth. Wash, dresse, be briefe in praying:

Few Beads are best, when once we goe a Maying.

Come, my Corinna, come; and comming, marke

How each field turns a street; each street a Parke

                     Made green, and trimm'd with trees: see how

                     Devotion gives each House a Bough,

                     Or Branch: Each Porch, each doore, ere this,

                     An Arke a Tabernacle is

Made up of white-thorn neatly enterwove;

As if here were those cooler shades of love.

                     Can such delights be in the street,

                     And open fields, and we not see't?

                     Come, we'll abroad; and let's obay

                     The Proclamation made for May:

And sin no more, as we have done, by staying;

But my Corinna, come, let's goe a Maying.

There's not a budding Boy, or Girle, this day,

But is got up, and gone to bring in May.

                     A deale of Youth, ere this, is come

                     Back, and with White-thorn laden home.

                     Some have dispatcht their Cakes and Creame,

                     Before that we have left to dreame:

And some have wept, and woo'd, and plighted Troth,

And chose their Priest, ere we can cast off sloth:

                     Many a green-gown has been given;

                     Many a kisse, both odde and even:

                     Many a glance too has been sent

                     From out the eye, Loves Firmament:

Many a jest told of the Keyes betraying

This night, and Locks pickt, yet w'are not a Maying.

Come, let us goe, while we are in our prime;

And take the harmlesse follie of the time.

                     We shall grow old apace, and die

                     Before we know our liberty.

                     Our life is short; and our dayes run

                     As fast away as do's the Sunne:

And as a vapour, or a drop of raine

Once lost, can ne'r be found againe:

                     So when or you or I are made

                     A fable, song, or fleeting shade;

                     All love, all liking, all delight

                     Lies drown'd with us in endlesse night.

Then while time serves, and we are but decaying;

Come, my Corinna, come, let's goe a Maying.

~Robert Herrick (1591-1674), Corinna's Going a Maying

   I know, it's a little bit of a longer poem, but it's really quite lovely, and certainly worth the read.  The speaker has gone to fetch Corinna out of bed-- it's spring!  It's May!  Our life is short and our days run as fast away as does the sun.

   I am, of course, posting this because I celebrate May 1st each year as my crowning as May Queen (blogged here and here).  It's a tradition I've honored since I was about sixteen, and all these years later, it's still a day that holds great significance for me.

   I hope you have a lovely May Day.  Take Herrick's advice-- get out of bed, dress quickly, let nature be your adornment, love, live, be merry.  It's a lovely day and we are blessed to be alive.  Carpe Diem.

May Queen

Years ago, when I was a lass of 16 or so, a boy crowned me May Queen.  For whatever reason, that idea sat well with my soul, and ever since, I have celebrated May 1st as the day of my crowning.  Silly, I know, but indulge me, won't you?  Amazingly, there are always people who do cater to my silly fantasies, like sweet Grant and Beth who gave me a crown one year, and my own dear mother who commemorates it each year with flowers.  In 2005, my then boyfriend set about collecting letters from many of my friends and assembled them into a book.  It was incredibly thoughtful and sweet and more than a girl could ask for.  It remains one of my most cherished possessions to this day.  All of the illustrations are credited to Stephen Halker.  The letters are those from whom I shall always love.


Happy May Day to you.  I hope that your life is as richly blessed as my own has been.  I hope that you have friends who care for you and indulge you in the silliest of ideas.  I hope that when you see flowers that they perk up your heart, because if Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

You may or may not know that right now happens to be one of my favorite times of year. The sun is finally peaking its head back out from where it hid all winter long, the birds are twittering and beginning to burst forth in song, and the flowers are in bloom!


My favorite flower, which deigns us with its presence for such a precious short time, is the Sakura, more commonly known in the US as the Cherry Blossom.

My own love affair with this flower dates back to my high school years when there was a Cherry Tree in our schoolyard (which, sad to say, has been since chopped down and replaced with concrete). On May 1st of 1995 or 1996, a sweet boy crowned me the Queen of May and presented to me a bouquet of Cherry Blossoms. I have since loved that flower! The blossoms are exquisite, and as they mature, their petals paper the earth in a type of confetti.

The Japanese practice "hanami," which is the culture of enjoying the flowers, namely the Cherry Blossom. Each year in Japan the weather bureau announces the blossom forecast, and the people closely watch for the blooming of the Sakura. When the time is right, thousands of people gather under the Cherry Trees in parks and pass the day and night away in celebration.

I lived opposite the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens in New York City for several years and always celebrated Hanami as well as the Sakura Matsuri, which is their annual rite of Spring. I would spend my Saturdays strolling amongst the flowers. After the Cherry Blossoms started to wilt at the beginning of May, the heavenly-scented lilacs would come into bloom followed by the roses in June.

If you're fortunate to live near public parks or gardens, don't miss this opportunity to view some of nature's finest offerings. Celebrate Hanami!

Here are some pictures from the Flickr set called
Hanami: Cherry Blossom Viewing at Brooklyn Botanic Garden

Couples Canopy by CocteauBoy

Planet Cherry by David Reeves

Waiting Spring by Catching Flies

XOXO,

The crowning of a Queen or How one girl got her wings

So you must wake and call me early, call me early, mother dear,

To-morrow 'ill be the happiest time of all the glad New-year;

To-morrow 'ill be of all the year the maddest merriest day,

For I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother, I'm to be Queen o' the May.

~Alfred Lord Tennyson, excerpt from The May Queen

The month of May was come, when every lusty heart beginneth to blossom, and to bring forth fruit; for like as herbs and trees bring forth fruit and flourish in May, in likewise every lusty heart that is in any manner a lover, springeth and flourisheth in lusty deeds.  For it giveth unto all lovers courage, that lusty month of May.

~Sir Thomas Malory, excerpt from Le Morte d'Arthur, 1485

Now the bright morning-star, Day's harbinger,

Comes dancing from the East, and leads with her

The flowery May, who from her green lap throws

The yellow cowslip and the pale primrose.

Hale, bounteous May, that doth inspire

Mirth, and youth, and warm desire!

Woods and groves are of thy dressing;

Hill and dale doth boast thy blessing.

Thus we salute thee with out early song,

And welcome thee, and wish thee long.

~John Milton, Song on a May Morning, 1660

Everything is blooming most recklessly; if it were voices instead of colors, there would be an unbelievable shrieking into the heart of night.

~Rainer Maria Rilke, The Letters of Rainer Maria Rilke

The first of May is a day known in some parts of the world as May Day.  It has its tie to pre-Christian Europe and was a time to celebrate the beginning of summer.  A May Queen was crowned, normally a young girl dressed in white to symbolize purity, and tradition held that they would dance around a Maypole.  You can read more about these traditions here at Wikipedia, and here on a web page devoted to celebrating May Day.

I was once crowned the Queen of May.  It was when I was a young maiden of about fifteen or sixteen, and a lovely fellow crowned me under an arbor of cherry blossoms as the ruler of May.  It was for one glorious month that ruled over such a short span of time, but I have claimed the right to make this month mine ever since.  That season when I was young and fresh has passed, but I am reminded of past and future glory every year on May 1st.  I am crowned Queen, and with the aid of the faeries, I benevolently reign, calling forth the Spring, and looking forward to an eternal Spring.  May is indeed a time of love and remembrances, and a time when the earth bursts forth in song.

This day has passed rather uneventfully, nursing a sick mom, and spending time with my sister and the four puppies.  I have felt ill today, but am not saddened as I have the rest of May to look forward.  Erin and I baked cupcakes as a means of celebrating, of which I will post pictures tomorrow.  There shall be a day when, God willing, I will receive flowers on this the first of May.  And perhaps one day, I will be able to wear a dress such as this:

Pink linen tea dress, c. 1905

Irish crochet tulle tea dress, c. 1915

Beaded layered tulle dress, c. 1910s

These dresses and more are all from this site, Vintage Textile.