And after her came jolly June arrayed
All in green leaves, as he a Player were;
Yet in his time he wrought as well as played
That by his plough-irons mote right well appear.
Upon a Crab he rode …..
All in green leaves, as he a Player were;
Yet in his time he wrought as well as played
That by his plough-irons mote right well appear.
Upon a Crab he rode …..
Spenser’s pageant figure is that of the Green Man, symbolizing the full growth of grass, corn, and foliage “in the leafy month of June.” The phrase derives from Coleridge’s “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”, telling a tale of weird adventures at sea. In a period of lull he listens to the light airs around the ship:
It ceased: yet still the sails made on
A pleasant noise till noon,
A noise like of a hidden brook
In the leafy month of June,
That to the sleeping woods all night
Singeth a quiet tune.