The Hitchin May-Day Song
Herts. For an account of the manner in which May-day is observed at
REMEMBER us poor Mayers all!And thus do we beginTo lead our lives in righteousness,Or else we die in sin.
We have been rambling all the night,And almost all the day;And now returned back again,We have brought you a branch of May.
A branch of May we have brought you,And at your door it stands;It is but a sprout,But it’s well budded outBy the work of our Lord’s hand.
The hedges and trees they are so green,As green as any leek;Our heavenly Father he watered themWith his heavenly dew so sweet.
The heavenly gates are open wide,Our paths are beaten plain;And if a man be not too far gone,He may return again.
The life of man is but a span,It flourishes like a flower;We are here to-day, and gone to-morrow,And we are dead in an hour.
The moon shines bright, and the stars give a light,A little before it is day;So God bless you all, both great and small,And send you a joyful May!
Words in this poem
- righteousness n.
- The quality or state of being righteous; holiness; purity; uprightness; rectitude. [AS. rihtwisnes.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Hitchin May-Day Song is in the public domain. This text is taken from Ancient Poems, Ballads, and Songs of the Peasantry of England, Project Gutenberg ebook #649; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Robert Bell, The Hitchin May-Day Song, in Ancient Poems, Ballads and Songs of the Peasantry of England (1857), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #649, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bell-ancient-poems/the-hitchin-may-day-song.html, id L11960.
Form and metre
The Hitchin May-Day Song is 30 lines in 8 stanzas. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 78%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.0 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 13% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in common measure.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 2 -A-A all · beginA · righteousness · sinA
- 3 -A-A night · dayA · again · mayA
- 4 --AA- you · stands · sproutA · outA · hand
- 6 -A-A wide · plainA · gone · againA
- 7 -A-A span · flowerA · morrow · hourA
- 8 -A-A light · dayA · small · mayA
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Herts. For an account of the manner in which May-day is observed at | 17 | ···˘/··/˘·····˘/· |
| REMEMBER us poor Mayers all! | 8 | ˘/˘··/˘· |
| And thus do we begin | 6 | ····˘/ |
| To lead our lives in righteousness, | 9 | ··/˘··/˘˘ |
| Or else we die in sin. | 6 | ······ |
| We have been rambling all the night, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And almost all the day; | 6 | ·/···· |
| And now returned back again, | 8 | ··˘/˘·˘/ |
| We have brought you a branch of May. | 8 | ········ |
| A branch of May we have brought you, | 8 | ········ |
| And at your door it stands; | 6 | ······ |
| It is but a sprout, | 5 | ····· |
| But it’s well budded out | 6 | ···/˘· |
| By the work of our Lord’s hand. | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| The hedges and trees they are so green, | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| As green as any leek; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Our heavenly Father he watered them | 9 | //˘/˘·/˘· |
| With his heavenly dew so sweet. | 8 | ··/˘˘··· |
| The heavenly gates are open wide, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Our paths are beaten plain; | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| And if a man be not too far gone, | 9 | ········· |
| He may return again. | 6 | ··˘/˘/ |
| The life of man is but a span, | 8 | ········ |
| It flourishes like a flower; | 8 | ·/˘˘··/˘ |
| We are here to-day, and gone to-morrow, | 10 | ········/˘ |
| And we are dead in an hour. | 8 | ······/˘ |
| The moon shines bright, and the stars give a light, | 10 | ·········· |
| A little before it is day; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| So God bless you all, both great and small, | 9 | ········· |
| And send you a joyful May! | 7 | ····/˘· |
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