The May Magnificat

May is Mary’s month, and I
Muse at that and wonder why:
Her feasts follow reason,
Dated due to season-

Candlemas, Lady Day:
But the Lady Month, May,
Why fasten that upon her,
With a feasting in her honour?
Ask of her, the mighty mother:
Her reply puts this other
Question: What is Spring?
Growth in every thing-
All things rising, all things sizing
Mary sees, sympathizing
With that world of good,
Nature’s motherhood.

Well but there was more than this:
Spring’s universal bliss
Much, had much to say
To offering Mary May.

Gerard Manley Hopkins

Bernhard Schunemann

11 May 2025