The May-Pole of Merry Mount

The people of Merry Mount, whom Hawthorne calls the "crew of Comus", celebrate the marriage of a youth and a maiden (Edgar and Edith).

"The May-Pole of Merry Mount" was first published in The Token and Atlantic Souvenir for 1836, credited only as "by the author of The Gentle Boy".

In this sense it is not clear whether Hawthorne actually sides with the Puritans or the Merry Mount people, or if he is trying to find some middle ground.

It is not too difficult to see the Merry Mounters as the precursors of hippies (Beats, or, perhaps, more accurately free thinkers) or the Puritans as the archetype of the establishment.

As Nathaniel knew then, these matters of choice, such as whether 'strong watter' leads, by necessity, to debauchery or not, are perpetual issues readdressed with each generation.