The May-Pole of Merry Mount Background
A short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne. It first appeared in The Token and Atlantic Souvenir in 1836 and was later included in Twice-Told Tales, a collection of Hawthorne’s short stories, in 1837. It tells the story of the colony of Mount Wollaston, or Merry Mount, a 17th-century British colony located in what is now Quincy, Massachusetts. (Read more on Wikipedia).
Twice-Told Tales (1837) The May-Pole of Merry Mount
‘Bright were the days at Merry Mount, when the May-Pole was the banner-staff of that gay colony! They who reared it, should their banner be triumphant, were to pour sun-shine over New England’s rugged hills, and scatter flower-seeds throughout the soil. Jollity and gloom were contending for an empire. Midsummer eve had come, bringing deep verdure to the forest, and roses in her lap, of a more vivid hue than the tender buds of Spring. But May, or her mirthful spirit, dwelt all the year round at Merry Mount, sporting with the Summer months, and revelling with Autumn, and basking in the glow of Winter’s fireside. Through a world of toil and care, she flitted with a dreamlike smile, and came hither to find a home among the lightsome hearts of Merry Mount…’ (Read more on Wikipedia).