The May Queen

The May Queen
George Lawrence Bulleid
(1858-1933)

You must wake and call me early,

call me early, mother dear;

Tomorrow'll be the happiest time

of all the glad New-year;

O all the glad New-year, mother, the

maddest merriest day;

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

I'm to be Queen o' the May.

There's many a black, black eye, they say,

but none so bright as mine;

There's Margaret and Mary, there's

Kate and Caroline:

But none so fair as little Alice

in all the land they say,

So I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother,

I'm to be Queen o' the May.

The Queen of the May

From Randolph Caldecott's

"Come Lassies and Lads"

(1884)

I sleep so sound all night, mother,

that I shall never wake,

If you do not call me loud when

 the day begins to break:

But I must gather knots of flowers 

 and buds and garlands gay,

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

I'm to be Queen o' the May.

As I came up the valley whom 

 think ye should I see,

But Robin leaning on the bridge

 beneath the hazel-tree?

He thought of that sharp look, mother,

I gave him yesterday-

but I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother,

I'm to be Queen o' the May.

May
Alphonse Mucha

(1899)

He thought I was a ghost, mother, 

 for I was all in white,

And I ran by him without speaking,

like a flash of light.

They call me cruel-hearted, but I care

not what they say,

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

I'm to be Queen o' the May.

They say he's dying all for love, but,

that can never be:

They say his heart is breaking, mother

-what is that to me?

There's many a bolder lad 'ill woo me

any summer day,

And I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother,

I'm to be Queen o' the May.

Little Effie shall go with me

 tomorrow to the green,

And you will be there, too, mother, to

see me made the Queen;

For the shepherd lads on every side

will come from far away,

And I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother,

I'm to be Queen o' the May.

The honeysuckle round the porch has

wov'n its wavy bowers,

And by the meadow-trenches blow the

faint sweet cuckoo-flowers;

And the wild marsh-marigold shines

like fire in the swamps and hollows gray,

And I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother,

I'm to be Queen o' the May.

 May's Wild Purple Wisteria 

The night winds come and go, mother,

upon the meadow-grass,

And the happy stars above them seem to

brighten as they pass;

There will not be a drop of rain the

whole of the live-long day,

And I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother,

I'm to be Queen o' the May.

All the valley, mother, will be fresh

and green and still,

And the cowslip and the crowfoot are

over all the hill,

And the rivulet in the flowery dale will

merrily glance and play,

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

I'm to be Queen o' the May.

So you must wake and call me early,

call me early, mother dear,

Tomorrow '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.

Queen of the May
Herbert Gustave Schmalz Carmichael
(1856-1935)

"The May Queen

Alfred, Lord Tennyson

(1809-1892)