---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: 'Tis May, the elfish maiden, the daughter…"
description: "\"'Tis May, the elfish maiden, the daughter of the Spring, Upon whose birthday morning the birds delight to sing. They would not sing one note for you, i..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/03a/robert-fuller-murray-106129_bird_tis-may-the-elfish-maiden-the-daughter-o_1823469.jpg"
---

#  'Tis May, the elfish maiden, the daughter of the Spring…

![“'Tis May, the elfish maiden, the daughter of the Spring, Upon whose birthday morning the birds delight to sing. They would not sing one note for you, if you should so command, Although you are a princess, a princess of the land.” quote by Robert Fuller Murray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/03a/robert-fuller-murray-106129_bird_tis-may-the-elfish-maiden-the-daughter-o_1823469.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/03a/robert-fuller-murray-106129_bird_tis-may-the-elfish-maiden-the-daughter-o_1823469.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/03a/robert-fuller-murray-106129_bird_tis-may-the-elfish-maiden-the-daughter-o_1823469.jpg)

> “'Tis May, the elfish maiden, the daughter of the Spring, Upon whose birthday morning the birds delight to sing. They would not sing one note for you, if you should so command, Although you are a princess, a princess of the land.”

[Robert Fuller Murray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-fuller-murray/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Spring's elfin maiden celebrates dawn with birds; her song is reserved for those she commands.

**In simple terms:** Spring brings magical celebration.

Key Takeaway

Appreciate natural rhythms.

Themes

nature season mythology

Mood

joyful lyhetic

Type

Bird:1 Children:0 Command:0 Daughter:1 Delight:1 Ifs:0 Land:0 Maidens:1 May:1 Morning:1 Notes:0 Princess:1 Should:0 Spring:1 Morning Birds:0 Elfish Maiden:1 Spring Birthday:0 Birds Delight:1

When to use this quote

- spring festivals
- birdwatching
- creative writing

Key Concepts

poetry music culture

Questions to Reflect On

- How does spring inspire you?
- What rituals honor the season?

A Different Perspective

Myth may be symbolic, not literal.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Bird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bird/) [Birds Delight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/birds-delight-2213936/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Command](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/command/) [Daughter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/daughter/) [Delight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/delight/) [Elfish Maiden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/elfish-maiden-2213934/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Land](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/land/) [Maidens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/maidens/) [May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/may/) [Morning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/morning/) [Morning Birds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/morning-birds-1120328/) [Notes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/notes/) [Princess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/princess/) [Should](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/should/) [Spring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spring/) [Spring Birthday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spring-birthday-2213935/)

## Related quotes

> [“She is like the morning," he said. "With that golden hair, those blue eyes, and that fresh bloom on her cheek, she is like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/she-is-like-the-morning-he-said-with-that-golden-hair-those-blue-eyes/)

[Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/)

> [“The world was a glorious place this morning. The birds were particularly noisy in their greeting to the day. The sky was a cloudless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-ranney/the-world-was-a-glorious-place-this-morning-the-birds-were/)

[Karen Ranney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-ranney/)

> [It is a matter of shame that in the morning the birds should be awake earlier than you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abu-bakr/it-is-a-matter-of-shame-that-in-the-morning-the-birds-should-be-awake/)

[Abu Bakr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abu-bakr/)

> [“I watched you storm towards the restaurant door. It was a chilly December morning and the birds sitting on the high wires in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malak-el-halabi/i-watched-you-storm-towards-the-restaurant-door-it-was-a-chilly/)

[Malak El Halabi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malak-el-halabi/)

> [Her very frowns are fairer far Than smiles of other maidens are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hartley-coleridge/her-very-frowns-are-fairer-far-than-smiles-of-other-maidens-are/)

[Hartley Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hartley-coleridge/)

> [It was many and many a year ago, In a kingdom by the sea, That a maiden there lived whom you may know By…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/it-was-many-and-many-a-year-ago-in-a-kingdom-by-the-sea-that-a-maiden/)

[Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/)

> [Kami'd always retold her fairy tales to make the fair maidens braver and more self-sufficient, but she had never had any real objection to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-rees-brennan/kami-d-always-retold-her-fairy-tales-to-make-the-fair-maidens-braver/)

[Sarah Rees Brennan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-rees-brennan/)

> [If you go to Atlanta, the first question people ask you is, "What's your business?" In Macon they ask, "Where do you go to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berendt/if-you-go-to-atlanta-the-first-question-people-ask-you-is-what-s-your/)

[John Berendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berendt/)

> [“My goddesses! You vanished faces! Oh, hearken to my woeful call: Have other maidens gained your places, Yet not replaced you after all? (12)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pushkin/my-goddesses-you-vanished-faces-oh-hearken-to-my-woeful-call-have/)

[Alexander Pushkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pushkin/)

> [What, did you think," she asked, laughing as he struggled up the bank, "that I, a Gaulish maiden, could not swim?" "I did not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-a-henty/what-did-you-think-she-asked-laughing-as-he-struggled-up-the-bank/)

[G.A. Henty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-a-henty/)

> [Statuettes of drunken sailors, velvet pictures of island maidens, plastic seashell lamps made in Taiwan. What contempt the people who think up souvenirs have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-johnson/statuettes-of-drunken-sailors-velvet-pictures-of-island-maidens/)

[Diane Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-johnson/)

> [The soul whose bosom lust did never touch Is God's fair bride; and maiden's souls are such.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tertullian/the-soul-whose-bosom-lust-did-never-touch-is-god-s-fair-bride-and/)

[Tertullian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tertullian/)

> [Forget the noose. Forget the Iron Maiden. Forget the electric chair or the guillotine. The mind was mankind's most painful torture chamber, the blessed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tiffanie-debartolo/forget-the-noose-forget-the-iron-maiden-forget-the-electric-chair-or/)

[Tiffanie DeBartolo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tiffanie-debartolo/)

> [Where shall the lover rest, Whom the fates sever From his true maiden's breast, Parted for ever? Where, through groves deep and high, Sounds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-scott/where-shall-the-lover-rest-whom-the-fates-sever-from-his-true-maiden/)

[Walter Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-scott/)

> [My featherbed is deep and soft, and there I’ll lay you down, I’ll dress you all in yellow silk and on your head a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/my-featherbed-is-deep-and-soft-and-there-i-ll-lay-you-down-i-ll-dress/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

## More by Robert Fuller Murray

> [...Winter, the aged chief, Mighty in power, Exiles the tender leaf, Exiles the flower.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-fuller-murray/winter-the-aged-chief-mighty-in-power-exiles-the-tender-leaf-exiles/)

[Robert Fuller Murray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-fuller-murray/)

[Explore all 2 Robert Fuller Murray quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-fuller-murray/)

## More Bird quotes

> [And I have been very blessed, having coached some of the greatest that have ever played the game. But if I had to start…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/red-auerbach/and-i-have-been-very-blessed-having-coached-some-of-the-greatest-that/)

[Red Auerbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/red-auerbach/)

> [Some minds corrode and grow inactive under the loss of personal liberty; others grow morbid and irritable; but it is the nature of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/washington-irving/some-minds-corrode-and-grow-inactive-under-the-loss-of-personal/)

[Washington Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/washington-irving/)

> [Set the bird's wings with gold and it will never again soar in thesky.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabindranath-tagore/set-the-bird-s-wings-with-gold-and-it-will-never-again-soar-in-thesky/)

[Rabindranath Tagore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabindranath-tagore/)

> [“He unfixes the metal notch and slips his hand around the body of the bird. Feels its heat, its small heart beating. He stares…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-schuyler/he-unfixes-the-metal-notch-and-slips-his-hand-around-the-body-of-the/)

[Nina Schuyler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-schuyler/)

> [I would rather learn from one bird how to sing than to teach 10,000 stars how not to dance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-e-cummings/i-would-rather-learn-from-one-bird-how-to-sing-than-to-teach-10-000/)

[e. e. cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-e-cummings/)

> [Can you imagine any better example of divine creative accomplishment that the consummate flying machine that is a bird? The skeleton, very flexible and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-murchie/can-you-imagine-any-better-example-of-divine-creative-accomplishment/)

[Guy Murchie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-murchie/)

> [Surely, God could have caused birds to fly with their bones made of solid gold, with their veins full of quicksilver, with their flesh…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/galileo-galilei/surely-god-could-have-caused-birds-to-fly-with-their-bones-made-of/)

[Galileo Galilei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/galileo-galilei/)

> [And wheresoever, in his rich creation, Sweet music breathes--in wave, or bird, or soul-- 'Tis but the faint and far reverberation Of that great…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-sargent-osgood/and-wheresoever-in-his-rich-creation-sweet-music-breathes-in-wave-or/)

[Frances Sargent Osgood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-sargent-osgood/)

> [A clock struck out the hour of twelve, and the bird in the hedgerow was still singing as we marched out to the roadway,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-macgill/a-clock-struck-out-the-hour-of-twelve-and-the-bird-in-the-hedgerow/)

[Patrick MacGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-macgill/)

> [Every wife ought to answer for her man. If the husband be engaged in a seditious club, or drinks mysterious healths, or be frugal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/every-wife-ought-to-answer-for-her-man-if-the-husband-be-engaged-in-a/)

[Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/)

> [Meanwhile, the trees were just as green as before; the birds sang and the sun shone as clearly now as ever. The familiar surroundings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/meanwhile-the-trees-were-just-as-green-as-before-the-birds-sang-and/)

[Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/)

> [When they started to drain a swamp where birds and fish had lived, for a new housing development down the road from his apartment,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maile-meloy/when-they-started-to-drain-a-swamp-where-birds-and-fish-had-lived-for/)

[Maile Meloy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maile-meloy/)

> [The bird with the thorn in its breast, it follows an immutable law; it is driven by it knows not what to impale itself,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colleen-mccullough/the-bird-with-the-thorn-in-its-breast-it-follows-an-immutable-law-it/)

[Colleen McCullough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colleen-mccullough/)

> [Real like sucks the life out of losers. if you want to fuck with the eagles, you must learn how to fly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/real-like-sucks-the-life-out-of-losers-if-you-want-to-fuck-with-the/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [“If we studied birds ,maybe we could learn to be free.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-alire-s-enz/if-we-studied-birds-maybe-we-could-learn-to-be-free/)

[Benjamin Alire Sáenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-alire-s-enz/)

[Browse all 4,802 Bird quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bird/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "'Tis May, the elfish maiden, the daughter of the Spring, Upon whose birthday morning the birds delight to sing. They would not sing one note for you, if you should so command, Although you are a princess, a princess of the land.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Robert Fuller Murray"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-fuller-murray/tis-may-the-elfish-maiden-the-daughter-of-the-spring-upon-whose/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Bird"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-fuller-murray/tis-may-the-elfish-maiden-the-daughter-of-the-spring-upon-whose/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/03a/robert-fuller-murray-106129_bird_tis-may-the-elfish-maiden-the-daughter-o_1823469.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/03a/robert-fuller-murray-106129_bird_tis-may-the-elfish-maiden-the-daughter-o_1823469.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/03a/robert-fuller-murray-106129_bird_tis-may-the-elfish-maiden-the-daughter-o_1823469.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“'Tis May, the elfish maiden, the daughter of the Spring, Upon whose birthday morning the birds delight to…” — Robert Fuller Murray",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Robert Fuller Murray",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-fuller-murray/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "'Tis May, the elfish maiden, the...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-fuller-murray/tis-may-the-elfish-maiden-the-daughter-of-the-spring-upon-whose/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-fuller-murray/tis-may-the-elfish-maiden-the-daughter-of-the-spring-upon-whose/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
