16 May Day Quotes That Celebrate Spring

The month of May is finally here — can you believe it? I know I barely can, but these May Day quotes help me to embrace it despite how quickly time is flying by. May Day represents a lot of different things, but one of the most beautiful, in my humble opinion, is its celebration of the summer to come and the fertility of spring. There's no denying how wondrous it is to see green leaves sprouting on trees that have been in hibernation all winter. I know that once I see that first yellow daffodil come up at my local park, I feel all the emotional weight from winter being lifted from me and a smile instantly appear on my face.

These 16 quotes get to the heart of the matter in ways that are both poetic and full of life. Though the first day of spring may have been weeks ago, sometimes we all still need a reminder of how glorious the seasons are even while we revel in the midst of it all. From Virgil and Shakespeare to names I'm sure you've never even heard of, it's time to hear these writers out. There's just something special about May Day that brings out the poet in everyone.

1. "Another May new buds and flowers shall bring: Ah! why has happiness no second Spring?" — Charlotte Smith

2. "With the coming of spring, I am calm again." — Gustav Mahler

3. "The world's favorite season is the spring. All things seem possible in May." — Edwin Way Teale

4. "Now every field is clothed with grass, and every tree with leaves; now the woods put forth their blossoms, and the year assumes its gay attire." — Virgil

5. "As full of spirit as the month of May, and as gorgeous as the sun in Midsummer." — William Shakespeare

6. "What potent blood hath modest May." — Ralph W. Emerson

7. "It was the month of May, the month when the foliage of herbs and trees is most freshly green, when buds ripened and blossoms appear in their fragrance and loveliness. And the month when lovers, subject to the same force which reawakens the plants, feel their hearts open again, recall past trysts and past vows, and moments of tenderness, and yearn for a renewal of the magical awareness which is love." — Sir Thomas Malory

8. "Hebe's here, May is here! The air is fresh and sunny; And the miser-bees are busy Hoarding golden honey." — Thomas Bailey Aldrich

9. "Ah! my heart is weary waiting, Waiting for the May: Waiting for the pleasant rambles Where the fragrant hawthorn brambles, Where the woodbine alternating, Scent the dewy way; Ah! my heart is weary, waiting, Waiting for the May." — Denis Florence McCarthy

10. "Among the changing months, May stands confest the sweetest, and in fairest colors dressed." — James Thomson

11. "I thought that spring must last forevermore; for I was young and loved, and it was May." — Vera Brittain

12. "You can cut all the flowers but you cannot keep spring from coming." — Pablo Neruda

13. "Queer things happen in the garden in May. Little faces forgotten appear, and plants thought to be dead suddenly wave a green hand to confound you." — W. E . Johns

14. "The beautiful spring came; and when Nature resumes her loveliness, the human soul is apt to revive also." — Harriet Ann Jacobs

15. "Horticulturally, the month of May is opening night, Homecoming, and Graduation Day all rolled into one." — Tam Mossman

16. "When April steps aside for May, like diamonds all the rain-drops glisten; fresh violets open every day: to some new bird each hour we listen." — Lucy Larcom

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