Epithalamion

- Edmund Spenser
WHAT IS AN EPITHALAMION?

 Epithalamion is a poem celebrating a marriage. An epithalamium is a song or poem

written specifically for a bride on her way to the marital chamber.
 Written mostly in ancient times
 Typically include Greek Gods like Hymen, the God of Marriage.

SUMMARY

Epithalamion is an ode written by Edmund Spenser to his bride, Elizabeth Boyle, on

their wedding day in 1594. It was first published in 1595 in London by William Ponsonby as
part of a volume entitled Amoretti and Epithalamion. Written not long since by Edmunde
Spenser.

The ode is written specifically for a bride on her way to the marital chamber. The poem
describes the day in detail. It begins with an invocation to the Muses to help the groom on his
artistic endeavor for the day, and moves through the couple's wedding day. From Spenser's
impatient hours before dawn while waiting for his bride to wake up, the two head to the
church. Hymen Hymenaeus is sung by the minstrels at the festivities. As the ceremony begins,
Spenser shifts from praising Greek Gods and beings to Christian language to praise Elizabeth
which is depicted as both innocent and lustful.

After the ceremony, Spenser becomes even more anxious at the thought of
consummating the marriage. Spenser then rebukes any idea of evil that could ruin their new
found happiness. Spenser asks for blessings for childbearing, fidelity, and all things good at the
end.

Spenser meticulously records the hours of the day from before dawn to late into the
wedding night: its 24 stanzas represent the hours of Midsummer Day. The ode's content
progresses from the enthusiasm of youth to the concerns of middle age by beginning with high
hopes for a joyful day and ending with an eye toward the speaker's legacy to future
generations.

ANALYSIS
 Epithalamion
- Edmund Spenser
Epithalamion is Spenser's masterpiece, recalling the greatness of The Faerie Queene, and
the greatest poem in the English language. In it, Spenser creates a complex celebration of life
and living. Its form comprises 23 stanzas of 18 lines and varying rhyme schemes, with a final
envoy. Each stanza, corresponds to the hours of Midsummer's Day.

Each stanza has a refrain, 6 of which, John B. Lord states, repeat one version or another,
resulting in 17 variations to the refrain during which the "echo" rings from morning to night
and to silence. There are 365 long lines and 68 short lines. The long lines correspond to the
days of a year (365). The short lines correspond to the number of weeks in a year (52),
added to the number of months in a year (12), added to the number of seasons in a year ( 4):
52 + 12 + 4 = 68. This complex calendar (perhaps inspired by his earlier The Shepherd's
Calendar(1579)) represents a thematic element.

Prominent literary devices Spenser uses are allusion and conventional motif.
Following an allusion tradition begun by Chaucer in English vernacular poems, Spenser
combines classical Pagan allusions ("And thou great Juno, which with awful might...") with
Christian sentiment ("Of blessed Saints for to increase the count"). Conventional motif use
occurs, in the envoy (427-433), which modifies the French "devouring time" motif. Spenser
writes, "...short time an endlesse moniment."

Of the themes in Epithalamion, one connects with its calendrical structure.

Thematically, the 365 long lines (days) represent our daily experience of life and living. The
68 short lines (weeks, month, seasons), represent our organizational and cyclical
experience of life and living: We accomplish by weeks; we measure and designate by months
and years; we grow and wane, fortunes and happinesses rise and fall, with the seasons of the
year and of our lives.

STRUCTURE

Epithalamion follows a rhyme a scheme of ABABCC, DEDEFF, and so on (except the

15th stanza.). The structure is 24 stanzas, each with either 18 lines or 19 (15th stanza has 17
lines). The last stanza is an envoy(a short formal stanza which is appended to a poem by way
of conclusion) with 7 lines. There are 433 lines in total.

In the 15th stanza, Spenser changes the structure. Throughout the poem, the stanzas
are structured with 18 or 19 lines. In the 15th, there is a line missing. The rhyming structure
 Epithalamion
- Edmund Spenser
typically goes ABABCC, then DEDEFF and so on. But stanza 15 is FEGGHH. This might have
been done to keep the onomatopoeia of the poem or to keep the structure of the 365 lines as
a metaphor for a year.

THEMES

Epithalamion by Edmund Spenser has three main themes: marriage, the adoration of
the bride from the perspective of the groom, and mythology. These themes are present in the
poem by design. This is because an epithalamion is a Greek-rooted term that means “before
the bridal chamber.” Therefore, a epithalamion poem is meant to be about and in celebration
of a wedding.

The poem features vivid descriptions of the bride’s beauty, called a blazon, and a wish
that the poem becomes akin to a priceless ornament cherished by the future-wife. The poem
also features an imagining of the wedding in which both gods and humans attend.

Edmund Spenser references Orpheus and other mythological figures. This gives the
poem and the wedding event itself a cosmically royal atmosphere. The insertion of the
mythical element in Epithalamion also gives the occasion a sort of blessing for it to be long-
lasting and happy.

 [ A common convention in Spenser's day was the blason, a poetic form in which a
beautiful woman's features are described using metaphors for each specific body part.
In some sonnets and in Epithalamion, he makes such a list of his beloved's physical
features; in others he inverts the blason by taking one feature of the beloved and
comparing it to several different items, as when he compares her beauty to that of a
rose, eglantine, and juniper--all flowers whose beauty is protected by sharp thorns or
briars.
 Orpheus was a musician, poet and prophet in Greek mythology. His parents were the
king of Thrace Oeagrus and the muse Calliope. He was considered the best musician and
poet of all, and he perfected the lyre. It was the god Apollo who taught Orpheus how to
play the lyre when he was an adolescent.
Spenser compares his love to that of the mythology of Orpheus.
 Epithalamion
- Edmund Spenser
"Ne let the same of any be envide: So Orpheus did for his owne bride, So I unto my selfe
alone will sing,"

The story that is most known is about the love for his wife. After Orpheus' wife Eurydice
died, Orpheus traveled to the Underworld. Hades was charmed by Orpheus, and
allowed Eurydice to travel back up to Earth under one condition: Orpheus must walk in
front of Eurydice and not look back at her the entire trip. Anxiety got the best of
Orpheus, and right when they reached Earth he looked back, forgetting that they both
needed to be in the upper world and that Eurydice was not in it. Eurydice was lost a
second time forever.

Spenser uses the myth to insist he would do anything for his bride. Even travel to the
underworld.]

SYMBOLISM

The Epithalamion is a beautiful love poem by the famous Renaissance poet Edmund
Spenser that celebrates his intense courtship and marriage to Elizabeth Boyle. Epithalamion is
known for its rich and powerful sensual symbolism and imagery, which have a reflection from
classical myths and legends. This can be illustrated by the following examples:

The description of physical beauty of his lover, Elizabeth (and her body parts) also
makes use of powerful symbolism. For instance, her cheeks are referred to as red apples, her
eyes as Saphyres (that shine very brightly), her lips like cherries, her breasts like a bowl of
white cream, and the nipples like lilies etc. The poem, is in fact, full of such seductive
descriptions.

Consider the lines “The merry Larke hir matins sings…dayes merriment…” from the 5th
stanza. Spenser makes use of the conventional symbol of courting birds. The birds are
singing their mating tunes, which seems to be a part of the poet’s wedding tunes.

The “daughters of delight” from the 6th stanza refers to

bridesmaids who represent blessings for the marriage.

In stanza 8, the mention of Phoebe is a symbol of brightness and virginity (Phoebe, as we

know, is the chaste goddess of moon and virginity).
 Epithalamion
- Edmund Spenser
Spenser compares the awe inspired by his beloved’s true beauty to the awe inspired by
“Medusaes mazeful hed,” a mythological woman who turned everyone who dared to gaze at
her hairs into a rock. This is a symbol to represent the beauty and powerful virtues of his
beloved. Spenser considers the spiritual beauty of his lover to be more precious than her
outer, physical beauty.

BUT if ye saw that which no eyes can see,

The inward beauty of her liuely spright,

Garnisht with heauenly guifts of high degree,

Much more then would ye wonder at that sight,

And stand astonisht lyke to those which red

Medusaes mazeful hed.

There dwels sweet loue and constant chastity,

Vnspotted fayth and comely womanhood,

Regard of honour and mild modesty,

“Triumph of our victory” from the stanza 14 alludes to the end of the marraige
ceremony, which leads in to the wedding merriment, “Make feast therefore now all this liue
long day,” and then to day’s end preceding the restful, blissful bridal night.

Now al is done; bring home the bride againe,

bring home the triumph of our victory,

Bring home with you the glory of her gaine,

With ioyance bring her and with iollity.

Neuer had man more ioyfull day then this,

Whom heauen would heape with blis.

The 19th stanza gives a mention to “Frogs” and “Owls”. Spenser is invoking a veil of
silence for his bride’s wedding night, a restful silence of bliss in which not even the woods
answer back a distratcting sound.
 Epithalamion
- Edmund Spenser
Let none of these theyr drery accents sing;

Ne let the woods them answer, nor theyr eccho ring.

Christian symbolism

While the Greek mythology is used to express Spenser's undying love and wishes, the
symbols of Christianity are used to express his intimate feelings.

"How the red roses flush up in her cheekes, And the pure snow with goodly vermill stayne,
Like crimsin dyde in grayne, That even th'Angels which continually, About the sacred Altare
doe remaine, Forget their service and about her fly, Ofte peeping in her face that seemes more
fayre,"

Spenser comments how Elizabeth is so beautiful to him that even the Angels would
come down to Earth to look at her; and Elizabeth is so beautiful and perfect, she is the virgin
to be sacrificed, for all to learn from.

"She commeth in, before th'almighties vew: Of her ye virgins learne obedience, When so ye
come into those holy places, To humble your proud faces; Bring her up to th'high altar that she
may, The sacred ceremonies there partake, The which do endlesse matrimony make,"

The virginity being taken is sacrificial, but not in the form of Elizabeth dying for a cause.
Her virginity is being sacrificed, but for the sake of making a marriage. Elizabeth is walking up
the aisle, and the almighties are watching on. She stands as a symbol at the altar, for all to
admire and want to be.

The second to last stanza of the poem is Spenser envisioning heaven, as it is the end of
time for him and Elizabeth.

"And ye high heavens, the temple of the gods, In which a thousand torches flaming bright...
Poure out your blessing on us plentiously, With lasting happinesse... So let us rest, sweet love,
in hope of this,"

The description of this idea of Heaven is filled with their desires and will bring lasting
happiness. Spenser's Heaven is one where he and Elizabeth can live in peace and be rewarded
for their lives.

ANIMAL SYMBOLS
 Epithalamion
- Edmund Spenser
1. Turtledove: The Turtledove is a symbol for love and being faithful.

"Go to the bowre of my beloved love, My truest turtle dove,"

Elizabeth will go to the closed off place of Spenser's love, because she is his faithful love. He
trusts her with his secrets and his true self.

2. Oule, Storke and Raven: Oule is an old spelling of owl. And in Epithalamion, it is a bad
omen.

"Let not the shriech Oule, nor the Storke be heard: Nor the night Raven that still deadly yels,"

Spenser asks that these birds be quiet. If an owl is screeching, it means danger is
nearby. Ravens are often construed as omens of bad luck, and Spenser is wishing they do not
make a sound. Storks, in Chaucer's Parliament of Fowls, are avengers of adultery. So it can be
inferred these birds will stop any such crime from happening. Spenser does not want any of
these birds to be heard on his wedding night, since he is only asking for love and peace for the
rest of his life.

3. Qurye of Frogs: Frogs croak at night, and it can be a song that keeps people awake

"Ne let th'unpleasant Quyre of Frogs still croking Make us to wish theyr choking. Let none of
these theyr drery accents sing; Ne let the woods them answer, nor theyr eccho ring."

Spenser wants a peaceful night, and thus a peaceful life with his new bride.

MYTHOLOGICAL CHARACTERS

1. Muses: Spenser calls on the Muses to help him in his artistic endeavors on this special
day.

"Ye learned sisters which have oftentimes Beene to me ayding, others to adorne:"

Greek muses are the inspirational goddesses of the arts. Spenser calls on them to help him
make the perfect poem for his bride. He calls on them later in the poem as well.

2. Echo: Spenser states his love will echo for all to hear, it will be repeated everywhere.

"So I unto my selfe alone will sing, The woods shall to me answer and my Eccho ring."

Echo was a nymph who would attempt to protect Zeus when Hera would try to catch
him having affairs. Echo would try to distract Hera with chatter. When Hera caught Zeus in the
 Epithalamion
- Edmund Spenser
act, she made it so Echo could only repeat the last words she said. Echo was never able to tell
Narcissus that she was in love with him, and had to watch from the side lines as he fell in love
with someone else.

Spenser could be referencing Echo from the mythology, or the term Echo. But the word
Echo derives from the Greek mythology. His love is all he hears echoed back, because it is all
he can speak.

3. Hymen: Spenser wants his bride to wake, and calls on Hymen to do the duties of this
day.

"Bid her awake; for Hymen is awake, And long since ready forth his maske to move,"

Hymen was the god of marriage ceremonies. Spenser calls him to his side on this day so
that it will be perfect. He calls on him later in the poem to make sure their marriage will last.

4. Nymphs: Spenser needs the nymphs to make the location of the wedding, and nature,
beautiful.

"Bring with you all the Nymphes that you can heare Both of the rivers and the forrests greene:
And of the sea that neighbours to her neare, Al with gay girlands goodly wel beseene."

Nymphs animate nature and the land. Spenser calls on them so that the ceremony will
be beautiful.

5. Tithones: This is referencing the myth of Tithonus.

"Wake, now my love, awake; for it is time, The Rosy Morne long since left Tithones bed,"

Tithonus was a mortal who the Goddess Eos fell in love with. They had a child and Eos
asked Zeus to give Tithonus immortality. But she forget to ask Zeus for eternal youth. So while
Eos stayed young, Tithonus withered in old age. Spenser is excited at the thought of growing
old with Elizabeth. He is thinking of their future together, and every hour Spenser waits for
the ceremony to begins actually leads to the rest of the couple's life.

6. Phoebus: Phoebus is another name for the God Apollo.

"All ready to her silver coche to clyme, And Phoebus gins to shew his glorious hed."

Apollo is the God of music, poetry, truth, Sun and more. In this reference, Apollo is the
Sun. The day has begun, and Elizabeth needs to wake up.
 Epithalamion
- Edmund Spenser
7. Medusa: Spenser is taken back by the sight of his bride.

"Garnisht with heavenly guifts of high degree, Much more then would ye wonder at that sight,
And stand astonisht lyke to those which red Medusaes mazeful hed."

Spenser is lost in his bride's beauty. Much like anyone who comes across Medusa.

8. Mavis: Mavis is dialect for thrush, which comes from the tale of Philomela in Greek
mythology.

"The merry Larke hir mattins sings aloft, The thrush replyes, the Mavis descant playes,"

Philomela had her tongue cut out when she tried to cry out after her sister's(Pronce)
husband (Tereus) raped her. Her rapist cut out her tongue and left her. Philomela then wove a
tapestry to tell her sister. The two sisters then served Philomela's dead child to Tereus. When
Tereus found out, he chased the sisters. When they came to a cliff they prayed to the Gods and
were turned into birds. Pronce was turned into a swallow and Philomela a Nightingale.

The mythical Mavis/Nightingale is singing on this day, in a return to a mate. There are
many birds singing to mates in this stanza, and it comes out to the tune of the couples wedding
song. Although it comes from a darker myth, it is still a connection to the mythology Spenser is
building.

9. Hesperus: Hesperus is the evening star in Greek mythology

"With darksome cloud, now shew theyr goodly beames More bright then Hesperus his head
doth rere."

The day is ending, and Hesperus is making an appearance.

10. Cyprian Queene and Venus: The Cyprian Queen is another term for Aphrodite,
who is also referred to as Venus.

"And ye three handmayds of the Cyprian Queene, The which doe still adorne her beauties
pride, Helpe to addorne my beautifullest bride: And as ye her array, still throw betweene
Some graces to be seene, And as ye use to Venus, to her sing,"

Spenser and Elizabeth are about to come together as one. The couple needs the blessing of the
Goddess of Love, for their marriage to last and be full of love.

11. Phoebe: Phoebe was associated with the Moon in mythology.

 Epithalamion
- Edmund Spenser
"Loe where she comes along with portly pace Lyke Phoebe from her chamber of the East,
Arysing forth to run her mighty race,"

The Moon is rising, the day is ending. Elizabeth is compared to Phoebe, she is coming
down the aisle like the moon rises. She is white, like the moon, emphasizing her virginity and
beauty.

12. Bacchus: Bacchus is the Roman version of the Greek's Dionysus. They are the
gods of wine, agriculture and fertility.

"Crowne ye God Bacchus with a coronall, And Hymen also crowne with wreathes of vine, And
let the Graces daunce unto the rest; For they can doo it best:"

Spenser is asking for help from Bacchus in fertility with Elizabeth. They wish to have a
child. Spenser is envisioning the rest of their life. He has moved on from the anxiety of every
hour.

13. Crab: This is the constellation between Cancer and Gemini.

"When once the Crab behind his back he sees."

The constellation are shifting. In this case, the time is now towards the end of July since the
constellation is moving.

14. Maia: Spenser likens Elizabeth to Maia, the Goddess of Nursing Mothers.

"Like unto Maia, when as Jove her tooke, In Tempe, lying on the flowry gras, Twixt sleepe and
wake, after she weary was, With bathing in the Acidalian brooke."

Maia was one of the Pleiades, whom Zeus (Jove, also called Jupiter in Roman
mythology) had an affair with. Maia later gave birth to Hermes, but is also known as the
Goddess of Nursing mothers. Elizabeth is going to be a mother, like Maia was. And she is going
to be a caring one, Spenser hopes. Spenser is taking a lot of thought into the future.

15. Alcmena: Spenser compares his soon to be love making to that of Zeus and
Alcmene.

"But let the night be calme and quietsome, Without tempestuous storms or sad afray: Lyke as
when Jove with fayre Alcmena lay, When he begot the great Tirynthian groome:"
 Epithalamion
- Edmund Spenser
Zeus had another affair with a human, Alcmene. Alcmene then bore Heracles. But
Alcmene was already married to Amphitryon, the King of Tiryns. Zeus and Alcmene had a
quiet night, forgetting every care in the world. Including each other's spouses. Spenser hopes
the night the new couple is about to endure will be calm and quiet.

16. Cinthia: Cynthia is a female name given to Mount Cynthus. But it was also a
name for Selene, the personification of the Moon.

"Who is the same, which at my window peepes? Or whose is that faire face, that shines so
bright, Is it not Cinthia, she that never sleepes, But walkes about high heaven al the night?"

The moon is high in the sky, making an appearance. It is spying on the couple's love. The
couple's love is being watched by the moon, who is taking the time to do so. Spenser's love is
worthy of being watched by the Moon.

17. Latmian Shepherd: Endymion was a shepherd on Mount Latmas.

"For thou likewise didst love, though now unthought, And for a fleece of woll, which privily,
The Latmian shephard once unto thee brought, His pleasures with thee wrought."

The mythology tells that Selene was in love with the Shepherd. She loved him and his
appearance so much, that she asked Zeus that Endymion stay young forever. Zeus granted
this, and put Endymion in an eternal sleep. Selene is watching Spenser and Elizabeth with
jealousy, because her lover cannot interact with her.

18. Genius: Genius was the God of generation and birth.

"And thou glad Genius, in whose gentle hand, The bridale bowre and geniall bed remaine,"

Spenser is once again asking for a blessing from a god. This time it is on passing birth
and passing down his genes.

19. Hebe: Hebe is the Goddess of youth and freedom.

"And thou farye Hebe, and thou Hymen free, Grant that is may so be. Til which we cease your
further prayse to sing, Ne any woods shall answer, nor your Eccho ring."

Spenser is leaving behind his youth and settling down. One can infer he is envisioning
the future in this stanza, and how time will cease for the couple eventually.
 Epithalamion
- Edmund Spenser

EXTRAS

How is the passage of time prominent in Epithalamion?

The ode begins before dawn and traces the passage of the bride and groom's wedding
day through to their joyous union that night. The sun, moon, and other celestial bodies are
addressed, alluded to, or invoked to signal the time of day; similarly, the detailed progression
of the wedding ceremony from calling the bride forth through the groomsmen leading the
groom to the bridal chamber detail the progression through the religious and civil ceremonies
that mark the couples' progression from individuals to "one flesh." Time is also referred to as
subjective, such as when the groom asks that the long-seeming daytime would speed by while
the night hours would lengthen for the happy newlyweds.

How does Spenser mix pagan, Christian, and local lore in Epithalamion?

Pagan images dominate Epithalamion, from the initial invocation of the Muses to the
final prayer to all the gods of the heavens. The wedding is couched almost entirely in classical
Greek terms, with the pre-eminent divinity being Hymen, the ancient Greek god of marriage.
Christian imagery enters in briefly, twice with the mention of "angels" and once--at the precise
moment of the wedding ceremony proper--when the couple kneels at the altar of the
"almighty Lord." A priest (presumably Christian) gives the blessing upon the couple, and it is
after this stanza that the groom considers his bride to be his wife. The Irish countryside, along
with lending itself to the setting of the ode, also provides several instances of local folklore to
color the day: the wolves in the woods and the witches and hobgoblins haunting the night, for
example.

How does the groom's goals seem to change over the course of Epithalamion?

At first, the groom wants his bride to awaken to enjoy this beautiful day set for their
wedding. He dwells upon Phoebus, the sun-god, even going so far as to ask the god to sanctify
this day to the groom himself (while keeping all the other days sacred to Phoebus). Soon it is
clear, however, that the groom wants the day to pass so he may get to his wedding night and
enjoy the conjugal bliss it will bring. Once night falls, however, and the groom has his bride
upon their marriage bed, his focus shifts to making their union fruitful and her womb fertile.
 Epithalamion
- Edmund Spenser
How does the passage of time in Epithalamion parallel the stages of human life?

The ode begins before morning, with the speaker welcoming the day in childlike
anticipation of a beautiful day better than any other. The speaker later becomes impatient
with the day, longing for night to come and cover the couple as they love one another as man
and wife. Once night has fallen, the speaker shifts to a longer view, imploring various gods to
make this first union a fruitful one and the first of a long line of descendants. He has moved
through the stages of life: childlike exuberance welcoming life simply to be lived, youthful
ardor eager for martial bliss, and older wisdom seeking to secure its legacy in future
generations.

What qualities make Epithalamion an ode?

An ode is a serious poem addressing a subject of great importance to the speaker. In

Epithalamion, Spenser discusses his wedding day as a sacred time, significant not just to
himself and his bride, but also to the cosmos. The intertwining of the progression of morning
to night, the invocation of classical deities, and the intimate yet public nature of the wedding
lend the poem an air of importance even when revelry is called for by the groom. That the
poem ends with the groom's desire for descendants who will ascend to heaven serves to give
the wedding an almost apocalyptic significance, as it is part of the longer story of mankind's
destiny and relationship with the powers of the universe.

Why use the mythology

The ultimate goal of using the Greek mythology is for emphasis of love. Each character
from the mythology is being used to bless the area of the wedding, the ceremony itself, the
marriage, Spenser and Elizabeth's life together, and for the hope of an offspring. Comparing
his love to that of great myths is all to make his love seem grand.

The mythology also emphasizes how important time is. Spenser is counting down the
hours in the day that will lead to the rest of his life. He asks for the gods' help in all the single
hours but also for the future.