Question

Stanza wise explanation of the poem the epithalamion

Answer 1

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Summary

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Edmund Spenser's Epithalamion (published in 1595) is a poem in 24 stanzas about the poet's wedding to one Elizabeth Boyle. In the first stanza, he recites a conventional invocation of the muses: "Ye learned sisters." He asks them to bless his marriage and also not let others envy his marriage. In the second stanza, he asks his love to awake by saying, "Bid her awake; for Hymen is awake," where Hymen is the deity of marriage. In the third stanza, he asks the Muses to summon other nymphs. In the fourth, he invokes the "Nymphs of Mulla" (a river in Ireland). In the fifth stanza, he invokes the goddess of the dawn, "Rosy Morne," and alludes to her love of Tithonus, the goddess's mortal love. In stanza 6, the poet compares his bride to an evening star. In stanza 7, the poet invites young boys and girls to attend the wedding and also asks the sun not to be too hot on the bride's wedding day: "And let thy lifull heat not fervent be."

Stanzas 8 and 9 discuss the musicians attending the wedding and the beauty of the bride, respectively. Stanza 10 continues to praise her beauty: "Tell me, ye merchants daughters, did ye see / So fayre a creature in your towne before[?]" Stanza 11 compares the bride to Medusa in her capacity to captivate, similar to the way Medusa turns people to stone. Stanzas 13 and 14 are extended physical descriptions of the bride. In stanza 15, the poet asks, and laments, why Barnaby's Day (the longest day of the year) was chosen for a wedding. Stanza 16 continues this theme, asking the wedding to come quickly.

Stanzas 17 through 19 are rife with classical allusions, including to Maia, the mother of Atlas. Stanza 19 asks that no one cry on the wedding day. Stanzas 20 through 22 continue to invoke Cynthia (goddess of the Moon) and Juno (also a patroness of weddings). Juno is queen of the gods, and hers is the last blessing for which Spenser asks. The poet addresses all the gods jointly in stanza 23, asking them to "Poure out your blessing on us plentiously." In the final stanza, stanza 24, he asks that his song be a lasting monument for his bride in place of other gifts: "Be unto her a goodly ornament."