{"id":85357,"date":"2015-05-01T14:27:55","date_gmt":"2015-05-01T18:27:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?p=85357"},"modified":"2015-05-01T15:07:42","modified_gmt":"2015-05-01T19:07:42","slug":"queen-o-the-may","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/05\/01\/queen-o-the-may\/","title":{"rendered":"Queen o\u2019 the May"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Proteus_1887_The_Elfin_May-Pole_Float\"<\/a>

The Elfin May-Pole<\/em>, a Mardi Gras float design for Krewe of Proteus, New Orleans, 1887.<\/p><\/div>\n

The other day, I received the sweetest note from an old neighbor of my family\u2019s commenting on the beauty of spring in the town where I grew up. She recalled something I\u2019d done many years ago: \u201cThe first year I lived here, you walked up and down the street, perhaps alone, perhaps with a friend, on May 1, to celebrate May Day. Perhaps you left a little bunch of flowers by my door?\u201d<\/p>\n

Perhaps I did. In any case, I\u2019m going to guess that I was alone. I can\u2019t imagine anyone joining me in this practice. I\u2019d like to say it was rooted in some precocious notion of workers\u2019 solidarity, but in fact my touchstone was more Kate Greenaway than International Socialism. (Especially given the maypole and hurdy-gurdy I requested for my eighth birthday.) <\/p>\n

Every year, I would roll some cones out of recycled computer paper; Scotch-tape them extravagantly; fill them with small bunches of violets, mallow flowers, and whatever I could steal from nearby yards; and leave them on neighbors\u2019 doorsteps. Then, of course, I would ring the bell and hide. Usually no one was home, which was anticlimactic. If someone was<\/em> home, it was also anticlimactic\u2014confusion was the best-case scenario\u2014although having experienced my caroling expeditions and Midsummer Revels, everyone probably assumed it was me.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I\u2019d been very influenced by Tennyson\u2019s poem \u201cThe May Queen<\/a>.\u201d I would trudge up and down the suburban street with my bag of wilting flowers, a tiny, solitary figure in a big flannel dress. Sometimes other kids would pass me on their way home from school, in twos and threes, radiating normalcy. But in my head, I was romance incarnate. And I would whisper,\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n

To-morrow \u2018ill be the happiest time of all the glad New-year;
Of all the glad New-year, mother, the maddest merriest day;
For I\u2019m to be Queen o\u2019 the May, mother, I\u2019m to be Queen o\u2019 the May.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I think my kids\u2019 poetry book must have only included the first section. I certainly didn\u2019t realize that by poem\u2019s end the speaker has wasted away and gone to Heaven, in the best Victorian fashion. Tennyson wrote that part later.<\/p>\n

Sadie Stein is contributing editor of <\/em>The Paris Review, and the <\/em>Daily\u2019s correspondent.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The other day, I received the sweetest note from an old neighbor of my family\u2019s commenting on the beauty of spring in the town where I grew up. She recalled something I\u2019d done many years ago: \u201cThe first year I lived here, you walked up and down the street, perhaps alone, perhaps with a friend, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":178,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13115],"tags":[10523,13270,8892,4367,13774,17986,7335,7221,165,2047,17987],"class_list":["post-85357","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-our-daily-correspondent","tag-alfred-lord-tennyson","tag-celebrations","tag-childhood","tag-flowers","tag-may","tag-may-1","tag-may-day","tag-poems","tag-poetry","tag-poets","tag-the-may-queen"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nOn May Day, Read Tennyson\u2019s \u201cThe May Queen\u201d<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Sadie Stein on how the poem influenced her childhood.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/05\/01\/queen-o-the-may\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Queen o\u2019 the May by Sadie Stein\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"May 1, 2015 \u2013 The other day, I received the sweetest note from an old neighbor of my family\u2019s commenting on the beauty of spring in the town where I grew up. She\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/05\/01\/queen-o-the-may\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Paris Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-05-01T18:27:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-05-01T19:07:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/proteus_1887_the_elfin_may-pole_float.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"472\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Sadie Stein\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@parisreview\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@parisreview\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Sadie Stein\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/05\/01\/queen-o-the-may\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/05\/01\/queen-o-the-may\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Sadie Stein\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/a1aef49f81bfc540a37e03590f3bb4d9\"},\"headline\":\"Queen o\u2019 the May\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-05-01T18:27:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-05-01T19:07:42+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/05\/01\/queen-o-the-may\/\"},\"wordCount\":408,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/05\/01\/queen-o-the-may\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/proteus_1887_the_elfin_may-pole_float.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Alfred Lord Tennyson\",\"celebrations\",\"childhood\",\"flowers\",\"May\",\"May 1\",\"May Day\",\"poems\",\"poetry\",\"poets\",\"the May Queen\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Our Daily Correspondent\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/05\/01\/queen-o-the-may\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/05\/01\/queen-o-the-may\/\",\"name\":\"On May Day, Read Tennyson\u2019s \u201cThe May Queen\u201d\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/05\/01\/queen-o-the-may\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/05\/01\/queen-o-the-may\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/proteus_1887_the_elfin_may-pole_float.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-05-01T18:27:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-05-01T19:07:42+00:00\",\"description\":\"Sadie Stein on how the poem influenced her childhood.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/05\/01\/queen-o-the-may\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/05\/01\/queen-o-the-may\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/05\/01\/queen-o-the-may\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/proteus_1887_the_elfin_may-pole_float.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/proteus_1887_the_elfin_may-pole_float.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/05\/01\/queen-o-the-may\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Queen o\u2019 the May\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"The Paris Review\",\"description\":\"The best prose, interviews, poetry, and art. Since 1953.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"The Paris Review\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-square.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-square.png\",\"width\":696,\"height\":696,\"caption\":\"The Paris Review\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/parisreview\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/parisreview\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/a1aef49f81bfc540a37e03590f3bb4d9\",\"name\":\"Sadie Stein\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/147299ffa10db51f1ff44a626a9211650a1c11f8fc07d102ab48e63ab3be037b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/147299ffa10db51f1ff44a626a9211650a1c11f8fc07d102ab48e63ab3be037b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Sadie Stein\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/author\/sstein\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"On May Day, Read Tennyson\u2019s \u201cThe May Queen\u201d","description":"Sadie Stein on how the poem influenced her childhood.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/05\/01\/queen-o-the-may\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Queen o\u2019 the May by Sadie Stein","og_description":"May 1, 2015 \u2013 The other day, I received the sweetest note from an old neighbor of my family\u2019s commenting on the beauty of spring in the town where I grew up. She","og_url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/05\/01\/queen-o-the-may\/","og_site_name":"The Paris Review","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/","article_published_time":"2015-05-01T18:27:55+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-05-01T19:07:42+00:00","og_image":[{"width":600,"height":472,"url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/proteus_1887_the_elfin_may-pole_float.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Sadie Stein","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@parisreview","twitter_site":"@parisreview","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Sadie Stein","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/05\/01\/queen-o-the-may\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/05\/01\/queen-o-the-may\/"},"author":{"name":"Sadie Stein","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/a1aef49f81bfc540a37e03590f3bb4d9"},"headline":"Queen o\u2019 the May","datePublished":"2015-05-01T18:27:55+00:00","dateModified":"2015-05-01T19:07:42+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/05\/01\/queen-o-the-may\/"},"wordCount":408,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/05\/01\/queen-o-the-may\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/proteus_1887_the_elfin_may-pole_float.jpg","keywords":["Alfred Lord Tennyson","celebrations","childhood","flowers","May","May 1","May Day","poems","poetry","poets","the May Queen"],"articleSection":["Our Daily Correspondent"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/05\/01\/queen-o-the-may\/","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/05\/01\/queen-o-the-may\/","name":"On May Day, Read Tennyson\u2019s \u201cThe May Queen\u201d","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/05\/01\/queen-o-the-may\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/05\/01\/queen-o-the-may\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/proteus_1887_the_elfin_may-pole_float.jpg","datePublished":"2015-05-01T18:27:55+00:00","dateModified":"2015-05-01T19:07:42+00:00","description":"Sadie Stein on how the poem influenced her childhood.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/05\/01\/queen-o-the-may\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/05\/01\/queen-o-the-may\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/05\/01\/queen-o-the-may\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/proteus_1887_the_elfin_may-pole_float.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/proteus_1887_the_elfin_may-pole_float.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/05\/01\/queen-o-the-may\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Queen o\u2019 the May"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/","name":"The Paris Review","description":"The best prose, interviews, poetry, and art. Since 1953.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization","name":"The Paris Review","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-square.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-square.png","width":696,"height":696,"caption":"The Paris Review"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/","https:\/\/x.com\/parisreview","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/parisreview"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/a1aef49f81bfc540a37e03590f3bb4d9","name":"Sadie Stein","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/147299ffa10db51f1ff44a626a9211650a1c11f8fc07d102ab48e63ab3be037b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/147299ffa10db51f1ff44a626a9211650a1c11f8fc07d102ab48e63ab3be037b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Sadie Stein"},"url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/author\/sstein\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85357","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/178"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85357"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85357\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":85371,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85357\/revisions\/85371"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}