Page 565

Then came fair MAY, the fayrest mayd on ground,
Deckt all with dainties of her season's pryde,
And throwing flowres out of her lap around:
Upon two brethren's shoulders she did ride,
The twinnes of Leda; which on either side
Supported her, like to their soveraine queene.
Lord! how all creatures laught, when her they spide,
And leapt an!I daunc't as they had ravisht beene!
And Cupid selfe about her fluttered all in greene.
SPENSER.
(DESCRIPTIVE.)
brings with her the beauty
: V    and   fragrance of haw-
thorn blossoms and the
song of the nightingale.
Our old poets delighted in
describing her as a beautiful
maiden, clothed in sunshine,
and scattering flowers on the earth,
while she danced to the music of birds and
brooks. She has given a rich greenness to the
young corn, and the grass is now tall enough
for the flowers to play at hide-and-seek among,
as they are chased by the wind. The grass also
gives a softness to the dazzling white of the
daisies and the glittering gold of the buttercups,
which, but for this soft bordering of green, would
almost be too lustrous to look upon. W~e hear the
song of the milkmaid in the early morning. and
catch glimpses of the white milkpail she balances
on her head between the openings in the hedge-
rows, or watch her as she paces through the
fields, with her gown drawn through the pocket-
hole of her quilted petticoat, to prevent it
draggling in the dew. We see the din figure of
565
U    ---
X7
M AV