The Shoemakers' Holiday, or the Gentle Craft is an Elizabethan play written by Thomas Dekker. It was first performed in 1599 by the Admiral's Men. It falls into the sub-genre of city comedy. It contains the poem The Merry Month of May.

O, the month of May, the merry month of May, So frolic, so gay, and so green, so green, so green!
O, and then did I unto my true love say,
Sweet Peg, thou shalt be my Summer's Queen.

Now the nightingale, the pretty nightingale,
The sweetest singer in all the forest quire,
Entreats thee, sweet Peggy, to hear thy true love's tale:
Lo, yonder she sitteth, her breast against a brier.

But O, I spy the cuckoo, the cuckoo, the cuckoo;
See where she sitteth; come away, my joy:
Come away, I prithee, I do not like the cuckoo
Should sing where my Peggy and I kiss and toy.

O, the month of May, the merry month of May,
So frolic, so gay, and so green, so green, so green;
And then did I unto my true love say,
Sweet Peg, thou shalt be my Summer's Queen.

Born at Chiefswood NHS, Ontario, Pauline became one of Canada’s most influential poets. She is noted for her writings about Native American life but she also wrote about Canadian nationalism and nature. Her poetry reached vast audiences in Canada, Europe, and the U. S. and helped spread understanding of Native American culture. Her poem “The Song My Paddle Sings” remains a highly popular poem to this day. In 1945 Johnson was recognized as a person of National Historic significance for her contributions to Canadian culture and her home, Chiefswood, is now a National Historic Site of Canada. Learn more about Pauline Johnson by following these links:
Pauline Johnson: http://www.pc.gc.ca/apps/dfhd/page_nhs_eng.aspx?id=1186
Chiefswood NHS: http://historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=7407&pid=10357&h=Chiefswood
Poetry: http://www.readbookonline.net/books/Johnson/565/