May Day 2012

[lorin]

The Meadows In Spring


'Tis a dull sight
To see the year dying,
When winter winds
Set the yellow wood sighing:
Sighing, oh! sighing.

When such a time cometh,
I do retire
Into and old room
Beside a bright fire:
Oh, pile a bright fire!

And there I sit
Reading old things,
Of knights and lorn damsels,
While the wind sings—
Oh, drearily sings!

I never look out
Nor attend to the blast;
For all to be seen
Is the leaves falling fast:
Falling, falling!

But close at the hearth,
Like a cricket, sit I,
Reading of summer
And chivalry—
Gallant chivalry!

Then with an old friend
I talk of our youth!
How 'twas gladsome, but often
Foolish, forsooth:
But gladsome, gladsome!

Or to get merry
We sing some old rhyme,
That made the wood ring again
In summertime—
Sweet summertime!

Then go we to smoking,
Silent and snug:
Nought passes between us,
Save a brown jug—
Sometimes!

And sometimes a tear
Will rise in each eye,
Seeing the two old friends
So merrily—
So merrily!

And ere to bed
Go we, go we,
Down on the ashes
We kneel on the knee,
Praying together!

Thus, then, live I,
Till, 'mid all the gloom,
By heaven! the bold sun
Is with me in the room
Shining, shining!

Then the clouds part,
Swallow soaring between;
The spring is alive,
And the meadows are green!

I jump up, like mad,
Break the old pipe in twain,
And away to the meadows,
The meadows again!
Edward Fitzgerald

Have a wonderful, fruitful spring, everyone.

[Iolanthe]

It is the merry month of May.
The bees do sing a roundelay,
And all the world is sunny.
So let your brown thoughts hie away,
And search the world for honey.
Oh, love, it is a happy thing,
It cometh unto clown and king,
As any one may see.
And of all places where it flies,
There is no place beneath the skies
More fair than where the bracken grows,
The honeysuckle and the rose,
Beneath the greenwood tree.
While bees do hum their roundelay,
’Tis there I’ll dream that Love some day
May even come to me.

From Merrie England by Edward German

[aliantha]

Happy Beltane!

[Iolanthe]

Happy Belta(i)ne Aliantha.

I looked this up on Wikipedia, and somehow, by following various links, ended up at "Only Fools and Horses" voted as the No. 1 British comedy series of all time!

I have a photo somewhere of the May Day celebrations at my Infant School, where we had a May Queen with attendants, and also danced around the maypole (1957/58 probably) but I haven't been able to find it.

[Ananda]

Yay! Have a good holiday. I've been convinced to make my husband's favourite today- ribs. I am having tofu for myself, though.

[Leaf]

Happy Beltane!

[Dread Poet Jethro]

Hurray, hurray
The first of May
Outdoor...frolics
Begin today!

[Ananda]

Hurray, hurray
The first of May
Outdoor...frolics
Begin today!

I gad almost said you forgot to switch account before posting. Glad you saw that too and fixed it.

[Dread Poet Jethro]

Quick and observant
Are endearing qualities
But not at all times

Commemorating
Beltane's the topic to be
Perpetuating

[sgt.null]

[aliantha]

Happy Beltane!

Nice forehead ornament!

Iolanthe, thanks! I've seen Beltane spelled both with and without the "i". Both seem to be correct, and I seem to vacillate between them from year to year. This appears to be a non-i year...

[sgt.null]

[sgt.null]

pete seeger

When the union's inspiration through the workers' blood shall run,
There can be no power greater anywhere beneath the sun;
Yet what force on earth is weaker than the feeble strength of one,
But the union makes us strong.

CHORUS:
Solidarity forever,
Solidarity forever,
Solidarity forever,
For the union makes us strong.

Is there aught we hold in common with the greedy parasite,
Who would lash us into serfdom and would crush us with his might?
Is there anything left to us but to organize and fight?
For the union makes us strong.
It is we who plowed the prairies; built the cities where they trade;
Dug the mines and built the workshops, endless miles of railroad laid;
Now we stand outcast and starving midst the wonders we have made;
But the union makes us strong.
All the world that's owned by idle drones is ours and ours alone.
We have laid the wide foundations; built it skyward stone by stone.
It is ours, not to slave in, but to master and to own.
While the union makes us strong.
They have taken untold millions that they never toiled to earn,
But without our brain and muscle not a single wheel can turn.
We can break their haughty power, gain our freedom when we learn
That the union makes us strong.
In our hands is placed a power greater than their hoarded gold,
Greater than the might of armies, magnified a thousand-fold.
We can bring to birth a new world from the ashes of the old
For the union makes us strong.

[Savor Dam]

Nice forehead ornament!

That's a Blue Morpho. Had it been willing to open up and show its inner wings on camera, you would see how truly spectacular it was. It perched on Menolly's forehead for quite a long while, but we never did get a picture of it with spread wings.

[sgt.null]