We
will once again "bring
in the May" at the Audubon Society's beautiful Woodend Sanctuary in
Chevy Chase, MD. Beginning with the traditional
procession, the early show (1:30pm) will celebrate the greening of the
year
with song, dance, the crowning of the May Queen, children's singing
games, and Revels' traditional audience participation. The Foggy Bottom Morris
Men will dance. The
later (4:00pm), somewhat shorter, show will feature a procession with
the
Padstow May 'Oss,
songs of Spring, and a full audience-participation Maypole Dance!
"MAY
VERSES" - Mary
Swope, 1998
Good
friends and
neighbors, welcome here
At
Woodend, which we all
hold dear,
To
celebrate the
blossoming season
With
lots of rhyme and
little reason,
With
jocund song and
merry dance,
Awakening
hearts with
fresh romance
To
springtime's
golden circumstance.
Our
lovely May Queen and
her court
Invite
you to observe
our sport
And
revelry, led by the
Fool -
To
join this day of wild
misrule
About
the maypole,
where, times past
They
wound bright
streamers round a mast
To
bring in luck and
hold it fast.
And
stranger things may
here be seen:
A
leafy man, clad all in
green,
And
the Padstow Oss from
Cornwall's
coast,
Who
dies, then springs
to life - no ghost,
But
living legend,
ancient lore,
Revived
upon Potomac's shore.
These
are good spirits
that we bring
To
perform the ancient
rites of spring;
So
sing with us, lift up
your voices
That
all may know how
Earth rejoices
When
life and light and
simple joy
Undo
the cold that would
destroy.
Come,
dance with us, in
joy and mirth
To
celebrate this
fragile earth
That
once more blossoms
and gives birth,
And
pray, that when we
greet each other
As
neighbor, sister,
friend or brother,
Cold
hatred everywhere
shall cease
And
the world know the
warmth of peace.
