For May wole have no slagardie anyght.
The sesoun priketh every gentil herte,
And maketh it out of his slep to sterte.
And seith "Arys, and do thyn observaunce."
– Geoffrey Chaucer
The Canterbury Tales, The Knight’s Tale. The young and beautiful Emily rises early one morning in May. The Knight says it is the season that bids every gentle heart to awaken and rise with the sun, which Emily does and sings to herself and picks flowers to make a garland for her hair. The imprisoned cousins Palamon and Arcite are about to catch sight of her and fall in love with the young sister of Theseus’s wife.