Blessed Beltain
The Blossoming Shore
© 2007 Photographer: Eva Snyder
Cloud-Break by Archibald Lampman
With a turn of his magical rod,
That extended and suddenly shone,
From the round of his glory some god
Looks forth and is gone.
To the summit of heaven the clouds
Are rolling aloft like steam;
There's a break in their infinite shrouds,
And below it a gleam.
O'er the drift of the river a whiff
Comes out from the blossoming shore;
And the meadows are greening, as if
They never were green before.
The islands are kindled with gold
And russet and emerald dye;
And the interval waters outrolled
Are more blue than the sky.
From my feet to the heart of the hills
The spirits of May intervene,
And a vapor of azure distills
Like a breath on the opaline green.
Only a moment!--and then
The chill and the shadow decline,
On the eyes of rejuvenate men
That were wide and divine.M
Beltane
The second Hinge of the Year.
The celebration of life
that balances out the
celebration of death at Samhain.
Traditionally Beltane is celebrated
with Morris Dancing and May Pole dancing
and driving out the last shreds of Winter,
by getting drunk and dancing around
a bloody great bonfire.