May Day
Edith Nesbit 1858 (Kennington, Surrey ) – 1924 (New Romney, Kent)
Will you go a-maying, a-maying, a-maying,
Come and be my Queen of May and pluck the may with me?
The fields are full of daisy buds and new lambs playing,
The bird is on the nest, dear, the blossom's on the tree.'
'If I go with you, if I go a-maying,
To be your Queen and wear my crown this May-day bright,
Hand in hand straying, it must be only playing,
And playtime ends at sunset, and then good-night.
'For I have heard of maidens who laughed and went a-maying,
Went out queens and lost their crowns and came back slaves.
I will be no young man's slave, submitting and obeying,
Bearing chains as those did, even to their graves.'
'If you come a-maying, a-straying, a-playing,
We will pluck the little flowers, enough for you and me;
And when the day dies, end our one day's playing,
Give a kiss and take a kiss and go home free.'
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 30, 2023
- 48 sec read
- 96 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABAB ACAC ADAD ABAB |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 824 |
Words | 163 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4 |
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"May Day" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 1 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/8867/may-day>.
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