Ce Mois de Mai

April was busy - looks like May will be as well. Just played Scrabble with some folks who get together for this purpose every other week (once a month will probably be as much as I can manage) and did pretty well. I definitely got a lot of cool words, including ORIOLE, GAMINE and EXTOLLS. If I may put in a request or two: More S's, please! And no more of this AAAIIEE or HNCVMJT nonsense!!

Geoffrey Chaucer (approx. 1343-1400) in the General Prologue to the Canterbury Tales puts a bit of a spin on the old saying that April showers bring May flowers:

Whan that Aprill with his shoures soote
The droghte of March hath perced to the roote,And bathed every veyne in swich licourOf which vertu engendred is the flour;Whan Zephirus eek with his sweethe breethInspired hath in every holt and heethThe tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne Hath in the Ram his halve cours yronne,And smale foweles maken melodye,That slepen al the nyght with open ye
(So priketh hem nature in hir corages);
Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages....*
Antoine de Févin (approx. 1470 - 1512) (first verse) picks up the notion that songbirds get busy all night long in the month of May:

Il fait bon aimer l’oiselet
Qui chante par nature
Ce mois de mai comment qu’il soit
Tant comme la nuit dure.

And then Clément Janequin (approx. 1485 - 1558) takes the theme a little further, suggesting that maybe songbirds aren't the only ones itching to be frisky:

Ce mois de mai, ma verte cotte je vêtirai.
De bon matin me lèverai, ce joli mois de mai :
Un saut, deux sauts, trois sauts, en rue, je ferai,
Pour voir si mon ami verrai.
Je lui dirai qu’il me décotte!;
Me décottant, le baiserai."

(Attempt at semi-literal translation: This month of May, I will put on my green petticoat. /Early in the morning I will get up, this beautiful month of May: /I will make one jump, two jumps, three jumps, in the street, /To see if my friend will see. /I will tell him that he de-petticoats me!; /De-petticoated, I will kiss him.)

(Attempt at a more modern alternative: I will wear my green dress this May. I will get up early, this lovely May: I will jump once, twice, thrice in the street, to see if my friend will see.... I will tell him he un-dresses me!; Undressing [me], I will kiss him.)

[Comment Feb. 2, 2014: I'm pretty sure that the verb baiser had primarily the meaning of kissing in medieval French - see Dictionnaire du Moyen Français (1330-1500), available at http://www.atilf.fr/dmf if that link doesn't work.   Nowadays, of course, although the noun form (un baiser) remains standard usage, it's probably better to use the verb embrasser to avoid confusion with the "vulgar slang term."]

Footnote *:

When April with its sweet showersHas pierced the drought of March to the root,And bathed every vein in that liquorWhich causes the flower to be generated;When [the wind] Zephirus also with his sweet breath,Has in every wood and field inspiredThe tender shoots, and the young sunIs halfway through the Ram [zodiac period - i.e., Aries],And small birds singAll night as they "sleep" with open eyes(So nature creates this urge in their hearts); --
THAT'S when people long to go on religious pilgrimages!