f 
106 LANGUAGE ANI) 
Tennyson, in his “May Queen”—that beau¬ 
tiful poem which is said to have gained him the 
laureateship—has immortalized the memory of 
this fast-fading custom. 
This fragrant favorite of English poets is well 
worthy of its reputation ; its beauty and per¬ 
fume are alike unsurpassed by any of earth’s 
“ gemmy flowers,” as Poe calls her floral deco¬ 
rations ; and truly we may style it the loveliest 
flower of the loveliest month—it is, indeed, the 
scented diadem of the year. Well may Shak 
speare make Henry VI. ask : 
“Gives not the hawthorn-bush a sweeter shade 
To shepherds, looking on their silly sheep, 
Than doth a rich embroidered canopy 
To kings ?” 
And then comes Goldsmith to speak of other 
tales told beneath its shade : 
“The hawthorn-bush, with seats beneath the shade, 
For talking age and whispering lovers made! 
How often have I blessed the coming day, 
When toil remitting lent its turn to play, 
And all the village train, from labor free, 
Led up their sports beneath the spreading tree, 
While many a pastime circled in the shade, 
The young contending, as the old surveyed.” 
The common color of these delicate blossoms 
is Avhite, frequently blushed with pink; but 
