Happy May Day

From Miscellanea & Ephemera:

My mother being Irish, she used to tell me all about May Day while I was growing up. I like to acknowledge it in some way.

The Return of May

Hail! fairy queen, adorned with flowers,
Attended by the smiling hours,
'Tis thine to dress the rosy bowers
In colours gay:
We love to wander in thy train,
To meet thee on the fertile plain
To bless thy soft propitious reign,
O lovely May!


'Tis thine to dress the vale anew,
In fairest verdure bright with dew;
And harebells of the mildest blue,
Smile in thy way;
Then let us welcome pleasant spring,
And still the flowery tribute bring,
And still to thee our carol sing,
O lovely May!
Now by the genial zephyr fanned,
The blossoms of the rose expand;
And reared by thee with gentle hand,
Their charms display;
The air is balmy and serene,
And all the sweet luxuriant scene
By thee is clad in tender green.
O lovely May!

Felicia Dorothea Browne Hemans (1793 - 1835)

Happy May Day! I have no May Pole (just one in my memory from Barbados) and I haven't washed my face in May Dew (said to make a plain woman beautiful) or walked barefoot in the dew (said to ensure healthy feet).

Read more about Irish culture and customs on this day.

Maybe I will go wash my face...

***

Don't tell my other blog, but I DID go out and run barefoot in the dew...and even washed my face.