May has finally come and it makes me want to do crazy things like these…
- Decorate my bike with flowers
- Make these cupcakes
- Dance around the Maypole like they do in England
Dancing around the Maypole, a pole tied with ribbons of different colours, is traditional in England to celebrate May Day, or May 1st. May Day celebrations are common all over the world, and they are thought to originate from Beltaine, the old Celtic festival that marked the end of the long dreary winter and the arrival of spring.
Seeing this picture of little girls dancing around the pole always reminds me of my favourite classic English author, Thomas Hardy. Thomas Hardy was born in the 19th century and was a playwright, novelist and poet. His many novels include Far from the Madding Crowd, Jude the Obscure and Tess of the D’Urbervilles. His novels give us a vision of pastoral England, and how life used to be in the old times before modern technology conquered us.
One of my favourite novels by Hardy is Tess of the D’Urbervilles, the tragic story of a young, poor, innocent girl from a village who is raped by Alec D’Urberville, a distant relative of her family supposedly related to the nobility. This happened at a time when rape was not talked about and most girls held themselves responsible for it when it happened.
Tragically, she gets pregnant and gives birth to a baby boy, who is poorly and soon dies. Then, attempting to forget it all, she moves to a nearby farm to milk cows. It is there that she meets Angel Clare, the clever and kind son of a priest. He is also working there, and they fall madly in love. To Angel, she is the epitome of virginal innocence. They get married but with disastrous consequences, as Tess fails to tell him of her previous trauma before their wedding night…
Even though the story is really sad and the ending is tragic, I loved this book when I first read it when I was 18, and I loved the film, a classic by Roman Polanski. The film is definitely recommended viewing…
There have also been several TV series adaptations for British television, and it is from one of them (the one featuring Gema Arterton as Tess, from 2008) that I found this picture of girls dancing around the pole holding flower bouquets.