The Full Text of “Prothalamion”
1CALM was the day, and through the trembling air
2Sweet breathing Zephyrus did softly play,
3A gentle spirit, that lightly did delay
4Hot Titan's beams, which then did glister fair;
5When I whose sullen care,
6Through discontent of my long fruitless stay
7In prince's court, and expectation vain
8Of idle hopes, which still do fly away
9Like empty shadows, did afflict my brain,
10Walked forth to ease my pain
11Along the shore of silver streaming Thames,
12Whose rutty bank, the which his river hems,
13Was painted all with variable flowers,
14And all the meads adorned with dainty gems,
15Fit to deck maidens' bowers,
16And crown their paramours,
17Against the bridal day, which is not long:
18 Sweet Thames, run softly, till I end my song.
19There, in a meadow, by the river's side,
20A flock of nymphs I chanced to espy,
21All lovely daughters of the flood thereby,
22With goodly greenish locks, all loose untied,
23As each had been a bride;
24And each one had a little wicker basket,
25Made of fine twigs, entrailed curiously,
26In which they gathered flowers to fill their flasket,
27And with fine fingers cropt full featously
28The tender stalks on high.
29Of every sort, which in that meadow grew,
30They gathered some; the violet pallid blue,
31The little daisy, that at evening closes,
32The virgin lily, and the primrose true,
33With store of vermeil roses,
34To deck their bridegrooms' posies
35Against the bridal day, which was not long:
36 Sweet Thames, run softly, till I end my song.
37With that, I saw two swans of goodly hue
38Come softly swimming down along the Lee;
39Two fairer birds I yet did never see.
40The snow which doth the top of Pindus strew,
41Did never whiter shew,
42Nor Jove himself, when he a swan would be
43For love of Leda, whiter did appear:
44Yet Leda was they say as white as he,
45Yet not so white as these, nor nothing near.
46So purely white they were,
47That even the gentle stream, the which them bare,
48Seemed foul to them, and bade his billows spare
49To wet their silken feathers, lest they might
50Soil their fair plumes with water not so fair,
51And mar their beauties bright,
52That shone as heaven's light,
53Against their bridal day, which was not long:
54 Sweet Thames, run softly, till I end my song.
55Eftsoons the nymphs, which now had flowers their fill,
56Ran all in haste, to see that silver brood,
57As they came floating on the crystal flood.
58Whom when they saw, they stood amazed still,
59Their wondering eyes to fill.
60Them seemed they never saw a sight so fair,
61Of fowls so lovely, that they sure did deem
62Them heavenly born, or to be that same pair
63Which through the sky draw Venus' silver team;
64For sure they did not seem
65To be begot of any earthly seed,
66But rather angels, or of angels' breed:
67Yet were they bred of Somers-heat they say,
68In sweetest season, when each flower and weed
69The earth did fresh array,
70So fresh they seemed as day,
71Even as their bridal day, which was not long:
72 Sweet Thames, run softly, till I end my song.
73Then forth they all out of their baskets drew
74Great store of flowers, the honour of the field,
75That to the sense did fragrant odours yield,
76All which upon those goodly birds they threw,
77And all the waves did strew,
78That like old Peneus' waters they did seem,
79When down along by pleasant Tempe's shore,
80Scattered with flowers, through Thessaly they stream,
81That they appear through lilies' plenteous store,
82Like a bride's chamber floor.
83Two of those nymphs meanwhile, two garlands bound,
84Of freshest flowers which in that mead they found,
85The which presenting all in trim array,
86Their snowy foreheads therewithal they crowned,
87Whilst one did sing this lay,
88Prepared against that day,
89Against their bridal day, which was not long:
90 Sweet Thames, run softly, till I end my song.
91'Ye gentle birds, the world's fair ornament,
92And heaven's glory, whom this happy hour
93Doth lead unto your lovers' blissful bower,
94Joy may you have and gentle heart's content
95Of your love's complement:
96And let fair Venus, that is queen of love,
97With her heart-quelling son upon you smile,
98Whose smile, they say, hath virtue to remove
99All love's dislike, and friendship's faulty guile
100For ever to assoil.
101Let endless peace your steadfast hearts accord,
102And blessed plenty wait upon your board,
103And let your bed with pleasures chaste abound,
104That fruitful issue may to you afford,
105Which may your foes confound,
106And make your joys redound
107Upon your bridal day, which is not long:
108 Sweet Thames, run softly, till I end my song.'
109So ended she; and all the rest around
110To her redoubled that her undersong,
111Which said their bridal day should not be long.
112And gentle echo from the neighbour ground
113Their accents did resound.
114So forth those joyous birds did pass along,
115Adown the Lee, that to them murmured low,
116As he would speak, but that he lacked a tongue,
117Yet did by signs his glad affection show,
118Making his stream run slow.
119And all the fowl which in his flood did dwell
120Gan flock about these twain, that did excel
121The rest so far as Cynthia doth shend
122The lesser stars. So they, enranged well,
123Did on those two attend,
124And their best service lend,
125Against their wedding day, which was not long:
126 Sweet Thames, run softly, till I end my song.
127At length they all to merry London came,
128To merry London, my most kindly nurse,
129That to me gave this life's first native source;
130Though from another place I take my name,
131An house of ancient fame.
132There when they came, whereas those bricky towers,
133The which on Thames' broad aged back do ride,
134Where now the studious lawyers have their bowers
135There whilom wont the Templar Knights to bide,
136Till they decayed through pride:
137Next whereunto there stands a stately place,
138Where oft I gained gifts and goodly grace
139Of that great lord, which therein wont to dwell,
140Whose want too well now feels my friendless case.
141But ah, here fits not well
142Old woes but joys to tell
143Against the bridal day, which is not long:
144 Sweet Thames, run softly, till I end my song.
145Yet therein now doth lodge a noble peer,
146Great England's glory, and the world's wide wonder,
147Whose dreadful name late through all Spain did thunder,
148And Hercules' two pillars standing near
149Did make to quake and fear:
150Fair branch of honour, flower of chivalry,
151That fillest England with thy triumph's fame,
152Joy have thou of thy noble victory,
153And endless happiness of thine own name
154That promiseth the same:
155That through thy prowess and victorious arms,
156Thy country may be freed from foreign harms;
157And great Elisa's glorious name may ring
158Through all the world, filled with thy wide alarms,
159Which some brave Muse may sing
160To ages following,
161Upon the bridal day, which is not long:
162 Sweet Thames, run softly, till I end my song.
163From those high towers this noble lord issuing,
164Like radiant Hesper when his golden hair
165In th'Ocean billows he hath bathed fair,
166Descended to the river's open viewing,
167With a great train ensuing.
168Above the rest were goodly to be seen
169Two gentle knights of lovely face and feature
170Beseeming well the bower of any queen,
171With gifts of wit and ornaments of nature,
172Fit for so goodly stature;
173That like the twins of Jove they seemed in sight,
174Which deck the baldric of the heavens bright.
175They two forth pacing to the river's side,
176Received those two fair birds, their love's delight;
177Which, at th' appointed tide,
178Each one did make his bride
179Against their bridal day, which is not long:
180 Sweet Thames, run softly, till I end my song.
The Full Text of “Prothalamion”
1CALM was the day, and through the trembling air
2Sweet breathing Zephyrus did softly play,
3A gentle spirit, that lightly did delay
4Hot Titan's beams, which then did glister fair;
5When I whose sullen care,
6Through discontent of my long fruitless stay
7In prince's court, and expectation vain
8Of idle hopes, which still do fly away
9Like empty shadows, did afflict my brain,
10Walked forth to ease my pain
11Along the shore of silver streaming Thames,
12Whose rutty bank, the which his river hems,
13Was painted all with variable flowers,
14And all the meads adorned with dainty gems,
15Fit to deck maidens' bowers,
16And crown their paramours,
17Against the bridal day, which is not long:
18 Sweet Thames, run softly, till I end my song.
19There, in a meadow, by the river's side,
20A flock of nymphs I chanced to espy,
21All lovely daughters of the flood thereby,
22With goodly greenish locks, all loose untied,
23As each had been a bride;
24And each one had a little wicker basket,
25Made of fine twigs, entrailed curiously,
26In which they gathered flowers to fill their flasket,
27And with fine fingers cropt full featously
28The tender stalks on high.
29Of every sort, which in that meadow grew,
30They gathered some; the violet pallid blue,
31The little daisy, that at evening closes,
32The virgin lily, and the primrose true,
33With store of vermeil roses,
34To deck their bridegrooms' posies
35Against the bridal day, which was not long:
36 Sweet Thames, run softly, till I end my song.
37With that, I saw two swans of goodly hue
38Come softly swimming down along the Lee;
39Two fairer birds I yet did never see.
40The snow which doth the top of Pindus strew,
41Did never whiter shew,
42Nor Jove himself, when he a swan would be
43For love of Leda, whiter did appear:
44Yet Leda was they say as white as he,
45Yet not so white as these, nor nothing near.
46So purely white they were,
47That even the gentle stream, the which them bare,
48Seemed foul to them, and bade his billows spare
49To wet their silken feathers, lest they might
50Soil their fair plumes with water not so fair,
51And mar their beauties bright,
52That shone as heaven's light,
53Against their bridal day, which was not long:
54 Sweet Thames, run softly, till I end my song.
55Eftsoons the nymphs, which now had flowers their fill,
56Ran all in haste, to see that silver brood,
57As they came floating on the crystal flood.
58Whom when they saw, they stood amazed still,
59Their wondering eyes to fill.
60Them seemed they never saw a sight so fair,
61Of fowls so lovely, that they sure did deem
62Them heavenly born, or to be that same pair
63Which through the sky draw Venus' silver team;
64For sure they did not seem
65To be begot of any earthly seed,
66But rather angels, or of angels' breed:
67Yet were they bred of Somers-heat they say,
68In sweetest season, when each flower and weed
69The earth did fresh array,
70So fresh they seemed as day,
71Even as their bridal day, which was not long:
72 Sweet Thames, run softly, till I end my song.
73Then forth they all out of their baskets drew
74Great store of flowers, the honour of the field,
75That to the sense did fragrant odours yield,
76All which upon those goodly birds they threw,
77And all the waves did strew,
78That like old Peneus' waters they did seem,
79When down along by pleasant Tempe's shore,
80Scattered with flowers, through Thessaly they stream,
81That they appear through lilies' plenteous store,
82Like a bride's chamber floor.
83Two of those nymphs meanwhile, two garlands bound,
84Of freshest flowers which in that mead they found,
85The which presenting all in trim array,
86Their snowy foreheads therewithal they crowned,
87Whilst one did sing this lay,
88Prepared against that day,
89Against their bridal day, which was not long:
90 Sweet Thames, run softly, till I end my song.
91'Ye gentle birds, the world's fair ornament,
92And heaven's glory, whom this happy hour
93Doth lead unto your lovers' blissful bower,
94Joy may you have and gentle heart's content
95Of your love's complement:
96And let fair Venus, that is queen of love,
97With her heart-quelling son upon you smile,
98Whose smile, they say, hath virtue to remove
99All love's dislike, and friendship's faulty guile
100For ever to assoil.
101Let endless peace your steadfast hearts accord,
102And blessed plenty wait upon your board,
103And let your bed with pleasures chaste abound,
104That fruitful issue may to you afford,
105Which may your foes confound,
106And make your joys redound
107Upon your bridal day, which is not long:
108 Sweet Thames, run softly, till I end my song.'
109So ended she; and all the rest around
110To her redoubled that her undersong,
111Which said their bridal day should not be long.
112And gentle echo from the neighbour ground
113Their accents did resound.
114So forth those joyous birds did pass along,
115Adown the Lee, that to them murmured low,
116As he would speak, but that he lacked a tongue,
117Yet did by signs his glad affection show,
118Making his stream run slow.
119And all the fowl which in his flood did dwell
120Gan flock about these twain, that did excel
121The rest so far as Cynthia doth shend
122The lesser stars. So they, enranged well,
123Did on those two attend,
124And their best service lend,
125Against their wedding day, which was not long:
126 Sweet Thames, run softly, till I end my song.
127At length they all to merry London came,
128To merry London, my most kindly nurse,
129That to me gave this life's first native source;
130Though from another place I take my name,
131An house of ancient fame.
132There when they came, whereas those bricky towers,
133The which on Thames' broad aged back do ride,
134Where now the studious lawyers have their bowers
135There whilom wont the Templar Knights to bide,
136Till they decayed through pride:
137Next whereunto there stands a stately place,
138Where oft I gained gifts and goodly grace
139Of that great lord, which therein wont to dwell,
140Whose want too well now feels my friendless case.
141But ah, here fits not well
142Old woes but joys to tell
143Against the bridal day, which is not long:
144 Sweet Thames, run softly, till I end my song.
145Yet therein now doth lodge a noble peer,
146Great England's glory, and the world's wide wonder,
147Whose dreadful name late through all Spain did thunder,
148And Hercules' two pillars standing near
149Did make to quake and fear:
150Fair branch of honour, flower of chivalry,
151That fillest England with thy triumph's fame,
152Joy have thou of thy noble victory,
153And endless happiness of thine own name
154That promiseth the same:
155That through thy prowess and victorious arms,
156Thy country may be freed from foreign harms;
157And great Elisa's glorious name may ring
158Through all the world, filled with thy wide alarms,
159Which some brave Muse may sing
160To ages following,
161Upon the bridal day, which is not long:
162 Sweet Thames, run softly, till I end my song.
163From those high towers this noble lord issuing,
164Like radiant Hesper when his golden hair
165In th'Ocean billows he hath bathed fair,
166Descended to the river's open viewing,
167With a great train ensuing.
168Above the rest were goodly to be seen
169Two gentle knights of lovely face and feature
170Beseeming well the bower of any queen,
171With gifts of wit and ornaments of nature,
172Fit for so goodly stature;
173That like the twins of Jove they seemed in sight,
174Which deck the baldric of the heavens bright.
175They two forth pacing to the river's side,
176Received those two fair birds, their love's delight;
177Which, at th' appointed tide,
178Each one did make his bride
179Against their bridal day, which is not long:
180 Sweet Thames, run softly, till I end my song.
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“Prothalamion” Introduction
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"Prothalamion" was written by the English poet Edmund Spenser in 1596 in celebration of the engagements of Elizabeth and Katherine Somerset, the daughters of the Earl of Somerset. The poem was innovative and unusual for its time. In fact, Spenser coined the word "prothalamion" specifically for it, modeling the title on the word "epithalamion," or "wedding song." Unlike an "epithalamion," which celebrates a wedding, a "prothalamion" celebrates a betrothal or engagement. The betrothals of the poem were more than matters of the heart, and were politically important events in England at the time. The poem thus meditates on the relationship between marriage, nature, and politics; it celebrates the beauty of the brides, the perfection of their marriages, and the natural world as a respite from the political complications of life at court. At the same time, however, the poem also suggests that the beauty and perfection that it describes is fleeting.
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“Prothalamion” Summary
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It was a calm day with a light breeze in the air, which cooled things down and lessened the heat of the brightly shining sun. I was frustrated with the time I'd wasted at court: my political ambitions had failed, and my hopes turned out to be empty illusions. To make myself feel better, I went for a walk along the banks of the River Thames. The shore and the meadows surrounding the river were covered with flowers—flowers so beautiful that they could be hung up in young women's room, or made into crowns for their fiancés in advance of their wedding day, which is not far away: please be quiet, River Thames, until I finish my poem.
In a meadow by the river, I saw a group of nymphs—the mythological daughters of the river. Their hair was green and hanging down loosely, and they looked like brides. Each of them was carrying a wicker basket woven from twigs and full of flowers that they'd gathered from the meadow. The nymphs quickly and skillfully plucked all kinds of flowers—including blue violets, daisies (which close at night), lilies (which are so white they seem virginal) primroses, and vermeil roses—which they would use to decorate their bridegrooms on their wedding day, which was not far away: please be quiet, river Thames, until I finish my poem.
I saw two beautiful swans swimming down the River Lee. I had never seen such beautiful birds. The snow on top of the famous Pindus mountain range has never been whiter than those swans. Not even the god Zeus, when he transformed himself into a swan in order to seduce the princess Leda, was as white as those swans. And though people say that Leda was as pale as Zeus was, neither Leda nor Zeus came close to being as white as the swans before me in the river. In fact, the swans were so white that even the calm river upon which they swam seemed to make them dirty; as such, the river told his waves not to touch the birds' silky feathers, in order to prevent the waves from dirtying the lovely birds and diminishing their beauty, which was as bright as the sun will be on their wedding day, which was not far away: please be quiet, river Thames, until I finish my poem.
The nymphs, who had by this point collected enough flowers, ran to see those silver swans as they floated down the river. And when they saw them, the nymphs stood in stunned amazement, filling their eyes with the wonderful sight. The nymphs thought that they had never seen such lovely birds, and they assumed that they were angelic, or that they were the mythological swans who drew the goddess Venus's chariot through the sky. The swans were so beautiful it seemed impossible that they were born from any mortal creature; instead, the nymphs thought they were angels or the children of angels. Yet, the truth is that the swans were bred from the heat of the sun in the spring, when the earth was covered in fresh flowers and plants. They seemed as new and fresh as their wedding day, which was not far away: please be quiet, river Thames, until I finish my poem.
Then the nymphs took out of their baskets all the sweet-smelling flowers they'd picked and threw them onto the swans and onto the waves of the river, so that river seemed like the river Peneus in Greece, which flows through the Tempe Valley in Thessaly. Indeed, the river was so covered in lilies that it seemed like the floor of a bridal chamber. Two of the nymphs wove flower crowns from the freshest flowers they could find in the meadow; they presented these to the swans, who wore them on their foreheads. Meanwhile, another nymph sang the following song, which was prepared for the swans' wedding day, which was not far away: please be quiet, river Thames, until I finish my poem.
"You swans, who are the world's beautiful decoration and the glory of the skies: you are being led to your lovers, and I wish you joy and happiness in your marriage. I further pray that Venus, the queen of love, and her son, Cupid, will smile on you, and with their smiles, remove all fights and conflicts from your marriages. I pray that your hearts will be full of peace, your kitchens full of food, and your bedrooms proper and fruitful, so that your children defeat your enemies, and that your joy will overflow on your wedding day, which is not far away: please be quiet, river Thames, until I finish my poem."
That was the end of the nymph's song, and everyone repeated her, announcing that the swans' wedding day wasn't far off—and the ground echoed with this line, which then echoed throughout the meadow. Thus the joyful swans went down the River Lee. Its waters murmured as they passed, almost as though the river would speak to them if he were able to talk. But he did make his affection clear by slowing down his current. And all the birds that lived on the river began to flock around the two swans, who were far more beautiful than those other birds—just as the moon is far more beautiful than the stars around it. In this way, they arranged themselves around the swans and waited on them, and lent them their best service for their wedding day, which was not far away: please be quiet, river Thames, until I finish my poem.
After a while, they all came to London, which was where I was born and raised, though I am named after a different place, and come from an old, well-known family. They came to a place where there were brick towers on the banks of the Thames, which serve now as housing for law students, though in the past they were the headquarters of the Knights Templar, until that order crumbled due to pride. Next to the brick towers there is a place where I often received favors from the important man who lives there—whose protection I sorely miss now, though it is inappropriate to meditate on such grievances here, and I should limit myself to talking about the joys of the wedding day, which is not far away: please be quiet, river Thames, until I finish my poem.
But in that place there now lives an aristocrat who brings honor to England—and whom the rest of the world admires. On a recent mission, he terrorized the Spanish and made the cliffs on either side of the straits of Gibraltar shake with fear. Man of honor, exceptional knight, the news of your triumphs travels across England. I hope you take joy in your victory and that you remain happy forever—since even your name promises that you will be happy. And I hope that through your skill and your victories in war, other countries won't be able to harm England. And I hope that Queen Elizabeth's name will be celebrated throughout the world, accompanied by your calls to arm, which some poet will preserve in song for the rest of human history on the day of the wedding, which is not far away: please be quiet, river Thames, until I finish my poem.
From the tall battlements of the house, the same aristocrat whom I described above came out like the evening star, Hesperus, who bathes his blond hair in the ocean all day and then rises above the horizon at night. The aristocrat came down to the river with many people following him. Among the crowd, two handsome knights stood out, who would've been a fitting match for any queen. Indeed, they were so intelligent and well-made that they seemed like Zeus's sons, Castor and Pollock, who, in Greek mythology became stars, part of the constellation Gemini. The two knights went down to the river to meet the two swans, whom they loved dearly. At the scheduled time they will get married, and that wedding day is not far away: please be quiet, river Thames, until I finish my poem.
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“Prothalamion” Themes
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The Comfort of Nature
At the start of the poem, the speaker identifies himself as someone whose political ambitions have been frustrated. These frustrated ambitions form a kind of frame for everything that follows: they're the reason why the speaker goes out onto the bank of the Thames in the first place. As such, although he doesn't dwell on his own ambitions, they nevertheless form an important contrast to and backdrop for the poem’s exploration of nature. Walking along the banks of the river eases the speaker’s “pain,” which suggests that nature is a soothing and restorative force. At the same time, the poem subtly but consistently blurs the distinction between nature and the human world.
In the first stanza, the speaker describes himself as someone who has spent a “long fruitless stay / In prince’s court.” Because the reader learns little else about the speaker, this introduction suggests that he thinks of himself mostly in relation to power: he bases his identity on his ambition and desire to get ahead in politics. In this regard, however, he has notably failed. His time in “prince’s court” has been “idle”—meaning he hasn't really done anything—and his ambitions have revealed themselves to be “empty shadows.” He flees from the vain and empty world of politics into the beautiful, soothing world of nature by walking along the Thames.
Nature is thus positioned as a restorative space outside the drama of the courtly world. In contrast to the “empty shadows” of the speaker’s political ambition, the natural world is precise and concrete. The speaker spends much of the second stanza, for example, listing specific flowers that he—and the nymphs—encounter. Furthermore, as the speaker describes it, the natural world is courteous and responsive to human needs. For instance, he details in stanza three how the river refuses to wet the swans’ “silken feathers.” As such, when the speaker asks the Thames to “run softly, till I end my song,” there is some reason to believe that the river might actually listen to him; unlike the world of politics, where his ambitions remain fruitless and useless, in nature the world actually responds to the speaker's desires.
As the poem proceeds however, and the swans float down the Thames, the divide between the human and the natural realms loses its distinction. The same river, for instance, that the speaker turns to for solace from political life also runs by brick towers where law students study and by the house where the respected Earl of Essex lives (described as “a noble Peer, / Great England’s glory and the world’s wide wonder”). More importantly, the swans that the speaker encounters on the banks of the Thames are preparing to return to London—a city—for their marriage.
These moments suggest that nature is not absolutely separate from politics. In fact, they suggest that nature in this poem serves as a metaphor for some of the most important moments of people's lives—like the marriages of key political figures. Indeed, the swans specifically serve as metaphors for Elizabeth and Katherine Somerset, daughters of the Earl of Somerset; the poem was initially written in celebration of their weddings. Thus even though these moments that reference the human, cosmopolitan world seem somewhat out of place—maybe even extraneous—they still shape the way one reads the poem and its description of a beautiful natural world. Overall, they suggest that nature is not purely a space of comfort and retreat, but that it is also intimately linked to human political life.
- See where this theme is active in the poem.
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Marriage and the Natural World
Though the poem describes the natural world as a space of comfort and beauty, the speaker doesn't always enjoy nature for its own sake. Instead, he focuses on the way that the natural world might be used for human ends—for example, for something like marriage. This is fitting for a poem originally written to celebrate two politically important engagements—that of Elizabeth and Katherine Somerset, the daughters of the Earl of Somerset. By focusing on the natural world as he celebrates these betrothals, the speaker suggests that a proper marriage is actually part of nature; such a marriage follows the natural order, the poem argues, and also uses nature for both its celebrations and as a model for how a good partnership should look.
The speaker reflects on the beauty of the natural world as he walks along the river. He notes its many flowers, and imagines a specific use for them: these flowers are pretty enough to decorate young women's rooms, as well as to adorn their soon-to-be-husbands on their wedding day. The speaker doesn't just enjoy nature for its own sake; he wants to use it to glorify the ritual of marriage.
Similarly, in the second stanza, the speaker sees a group of nymphs out gathering flowers. The end of the stanza reveals that they are doing so specifically for wedding decorations. The nymphs then use the flowers in stanza 5, throwing their petals onto the river as the two swans (representing the brides-to-be for whom the poem was written) pass and making flower crowns for them. For the speaker, this transforms the natural world into a very human space: the harvested flowers make the river seem like a bridal chamber, thereby directly including nature in this human experience, and also making the human ritual seem all the more natural.
Likewise, the nymph's song in stanza 6 describes the wedding bed as a “blissful bower.” The description is traditional in the English Renaissance, but in the context of this particular poem it seems especially significant. Just as the nymphs work to make nature part of the wedding ceremony, so too is the place where the wedding will be consummated compared, metaphorically, to a natural space.
As the nymph’s song continues, she outlines what a successful marriage looks like: a union filled with peace, harmony, and fruitfulness. It seems almost as though she is describing the condition of the pastoral world along the banks of the River Thames, with its abundance of flowers and happy nymphs. In this sense, the poem makes an argument about what marriage actually is. A successful marriage, in the speaker’s opinion, is one which makes use of the comfort of nature while also directly taking on nature’s most beautiful and peaceful characteristics. The distinction between natural abundance and the human institution of marriage is ultimately a false one, and the poem works to show its readers how one serves the other. In other words, a good marriage is entirely natural, and like the natural world, it is filled with beauty, peace, and abundance.
Of course, the marriages-to-be of Elizabeth and Katherine Somerset are importantly different from modern marriages, which stress companionship and compatibility between partners. Marriage in Spencer’s time was as much a political alliance as a matter of the heart. For Spencer’s readers, then, the intrusion of marriage into the natural world would mark another place where the distinction between politics and nature breaks down. By drawing his readers attention to nature as a model for marriage, Spencer attempts to bring the lessons of nature into politics, rather than separating the two.
- See where this theme is active in the poem.
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The Fragility of Perfection
The world of the “Prothalamion” seems utterly perfect—almost unbelievably so. The weather’s calm and warm, but not too hot. The flowers are all in bloom. The river refuses to wet the swans’ “silken feathers,” and the grooms are so handsome they look like the sons of a god. If this seems a bit hyperbolic, the speaker gives readers a series of hints that there lingers darker, more violent dynamics under the surface of this perfect beauty. The poem’s gorgeous celebration of marriage and political order is actually somewhat equivocal and ambiguous in the end: even as it celebrates nature, it marks the way that nature is marred by decay and violence. The perfection the poem displays is conditional, under threat, and possibly a fantasy.
For instance, in the opening lines of the poem, the speaker notes the delicacy and beauty of the weather. Yet he describes this perfection as temporary: “Zephyrus” might “delay / Hot Titans beams.” It’s unclear how long this delay can last, and the word “delay” itself suggests that it definitely won't last forever; it can only be forestalled. Eventually, the unpleasant characteristics of nature will return—and so too, will the darker side of marriage.
Similarly in stanza 3, the speaker compares the two swans to “Jove himself when he a swan would be / For love of Leda." The ostensible purpose of the comparison is to emphasize how pure and white these swans are. But in making the comparison, the speaker introduces some dark and unsettling material. In the myth of Leda and the Swan, Zeus transforms himself into a swan and rapes Leda—an act which, eventually, precipitates the Trojan war.
The presence of this violent and disturbing myth in a poem celebrating marriage suggests that the speaker may have his doubts about the marriages in question—or about marriage in general. Though he presents a vision of a perfect, balanced marriage, he suggests that this balance is under threat, and perhaps unsustainable—just as “Hot Titans beams” can only be delayed, not prevented altogether. That the speaker repeatedly asks the river to be quiet and gentle while he recites his poem also suggests that he knows the roar of the river will return soon enough, and that the marriage day is only a momentary respite from the harsh reality of the world.
There is thus a tension at the heart of the poem: even as it celebrates nature and its beauty, it also recognizes how fragile that beauty is. It marks the way that beauty is under threat—and may actually contain the seeds of violence that will undo the political order (in other words, the marriage) that emerges from it. This might be read as a call to honor this beauty while it lasts, or as a reminder to be wary of potential marital complications that could disturb the peace and harmony marriage is meant to create.
- See where this theme is active in the poem.
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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Prothalamion”
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Lines 1-4
CALM was the day, and through the trembling air
Sweet breathing Zephyrus did softly play,
A gentle spirit, that lightly did delay
Hot Titan's beams, which then did glister fair;The first four lines of the "Prothalamion" establish the poem's mood and some of its central concerns. The speaker begins by describing the weather, using a series of adjectives like "calm," "trembling," and "gentle" to suggest that the poem takes place on an unusually beautiful and serene day. As he does so, he invokes a number of gods from Greek myth: Zephyrus and Titan. Zephyrus embodies the west wind—which the Greeks considered to be the gentlest and mildest of winds. He is associated with morning, suggesting that this poem takes place during the early morning. He is also associated with spring—and thus with fertility, pregnancy, and rebirth.
The presence of Zephyrus early in the poem suggests a few important things about the "Prothalamion." First, the poem is interested in using Greek mythology for its own purposes. Though it was written by an English poet (and set in England), it draws on myths from an ancient and distant culture in its depictions of natural harmony and beauty. Second, the poem is deeply concerned with fertility, reproduction, and the rituals that surround those acts—specifically marriage.
The second Greek figure, Titan, is less specific than Zephyrus: the Titans were a race of Gods, including Gaia (Earth) and Chronos (Time). In this instance, "Titan's beams" refers to the sun, whose beams "glister"—shine with unbroken brilliance—on the day. In the Renaissance, leading Protestant intellectuals often interpreted Biblical images of the sun as metaphors about temptation. In these early lines, there is a sense that the beautiful weather the speaker describes is threatened. In line 3, for instance, the speaker notes that Zephyrus "delay[s]," the unpleasant heat of Titan's beams—and, perhaps, the sin and temptation they symbolize. One wonders how long this delay will last: presumably, not forever. As the speaker paints a picture of a beautiful, unspoiled day, he also suggests that it will inevitably fall into sin and decline.
The meter of these opening lines is strongly iambic; they are rhymed abba, like the first quatrain of a Petrarchan sonnet. However, there are disturbances in the meter: for instance, the first line opens with a trochaic substitution:
CALM was | the day, | and through | the trem | bling air
The trochee in the first foot suggests, again, that the calmness and beauty of the day is something temporary and unusual: just as the line resolves into an iambic rhythm after its first foot, so too the calm of the day will disappear in time.
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Lines 5-9
When I whose sullen care,
Through discontent of my long fruitless stay
In prince's court, and expectation vain
Of idle hopes, which still do fly away
Like empty shadows, did afflict my brain, -
Lines 10-16
Walked forth to ease my pain
Along the shore of silver streaming Thames,
Whose rutty bank, the which his river hems,
Was painted all with variable flowers,
And all the meads adorned with dainty gems,
Fit to deck maidens' bowers,
And crown their paramours, -
Lines 17-18
Against the bridal day, which is not long:
Sweet Thames, run softly, till I end my song. -
Lines 19-23
There, in a meadow, by the river's side,
A flock of nymphs I chanced to espy,
All lovely daughters of the flood thereby,
With goodly greenish locks, all loose untied,
As each had been a bride; -
Lines 24-33
And each one had a little wicker basket,
Made of fine twigs, entrailed curiously,
In which they gathered flowers to fill their flasket,
And with fine fingers cropt full featously
The tender stalks on high.
Of every sort, which in that meadow grew,
They gathered some; the violet pallid blue,
The little daisy, that at evening closes,
The virgin lily, and the primrose true,
With store of vermeil roses, -
Lines 34-36
To deck their bridegrooms' posies
Against the bridal day, which was not long:
Sweet Thames, run softly, till I end my song. -
Lines 37-41
With that, I saw two swans of goodly hue
Come softly swimming down along the Lee;
Two fairer birds I yet did never see.
The snow which doth the top of Pindus strew,
Did never whiter shew, -
Lines 42-46
Nor Jove himself, when he a swan would be
For love of Leda, whiter did appear:
Yet Leda was they say as white as he,
Yet not so white as these, nor nothing near.
So purely white they were, -
Lines 47-54
That even the gentle stream, the which them bare,
Seemed foul to them, and bade his billows spare
To wet their silken feathers, lest they might
Soil their fair plumes with water not so fair,
And mar their beauties bright,
That shone as heaven's light,
Against their bridal day, which was not long:
Sweet Thames, run softly, till I end my song. -
Lines 55-63
Eftsoons the nymphs, which now had flowers their fill,
Ran all in haste, to see that silver brood,
As they came floating on the crystal flood.
Whom when they saw, they stood amazed still,
Their wondering eyes to fill.
Them seemed they never saw a sight so fair,
Of fowls so lovely, that they sure did deem
Them heavenly born, or to be that same pair
Which through the sky draw Venus' silver team; -
Lines 64-72
For sure they did not seem
To be begot of any earthly seed,
But rather angels, or of angels' breed:
Yet were they bred of Somers-heat they say,
In sweetest season, when each flower and weed
The earth did fresh array,
So fresh they seemed as day,
Even as their bridal day, which was not long:
Sweet Thames, run softly, till I end my song. -
Lines 73-82
Then forth they all out of their baskets drew
Great store of flowers, the honour of the field,
That to the sense did fragrant odours yield,
All which upon those goodly birds they threw,
And all the waves did strew,
That like old Peneus' waters they did seem,
When down along by pleasant Tempe's shore,
Scattered with flowers, through Thessaly they stream,
That they appear through lilies' plenteous store,
Like a bride's chamber floor. -
Lines 83-90
Two of those nymphs meanwhile, two garlands bound,
Of freshest flowers which in that mead they found,
The which presenting all in trim array,
Their snowy foreheads therewithal they crowned,
Whilst one did sing this lay,
Prepared against that day,
Against their bridal day, which was not long:
Sweet Thames, run softly, till I end my song. -
Lines 91-100
'Ye gentle birds, the world's fair ornament,
And heaven's glory, whom this happy hour
Doth lead unto your lovers' blissful bower,
Joy may you have and gentle heart's content
Of your love's complement:
And let fair Venus, that is queen of love,
With her heart-quelling son upon you smile,
Whose smile, they say, hath virtue to remove
All love's dislike, and friendship's faulty guile
For ever to assoil. -
Lines 101-108
Let endless peace your steadfast hearts accord,
And blessed plenty wait upon your board,
And let your bed with pleasures chaste abound,
That fruitful issue may to you afford,
Which may your foes confound,
And make your joys redound
Upon your bridal day, which is not long:
Sweet Thames, run softly, till I end my song.' -
Lines 109-126
So ended she; and all the rest around
To her redoubled that her undersong,
Which said their bridal day should not be long.
And gentle echo from the neighbour ground
Their accents did resound.
So forth those joyous birds did pass along,
Adown the Lee, that to them murmured low,
As he would speak, but that he lacked a tongue,
Yet did by signs his glad affection show,
Making his stream run slow.
And all the fowl which in his flood did dwell
Gan flock about these twain, that did excel
The rest so far as Cynthia doth shend
The lesser stars. So they, enranged well,
Did on those two attend,
And their best service lend,
Against their wedding day, which was not long:
Sweet Thames, run softly, till I end my song. -
Lines 127-131
At length they all to merry London came,
To merry London, my most kindly nurse,
That to me gave this life's first native source;
Though from another place I take my name,
An house of ancient fame. -
Lines 132-144
There when they came, whereas those bricky towers,
The which on Thames' broad aged back do ride,
Where now the studious lawyers have their bowers
There whilom wont the Templar Knights to bide,
Till they decayed through pride:
Next whereunto there stands a stately place,
Where oft I gained gifts and goodly grace
Of that great lord, which therein wont to dwell,
Whose want too well now feels my friendless case.
But ah, here fits not well
Old woes but joys to tell
Against the bridal day, which is not long:
Sweet Thames, run softly, till I end my song. -
Lines 145-154
Yet therein now doth lodge a noble peer,
Great England's glory, and the world's wide wonder,
Whose dreadful name late through all Spain did thunder,
And Hercules' two pillars standing near
Did make to quake and fear:
Fair branch of honour, flower of chivalry,
That fillest England with thy triumph's fame,
Joy have thou of thy noble victory,
And endless happiness of thine own name
That promiseth the same: -
Lines 155-162
That through thy prowess and victorious arms,
Thy country may be freed from foreign harms;
And great Elisa's glorious name may ring
Through all the world, filled with thy wide alarms,
Which some brave Muse may sing
To ages following,
Upon the bridal day, which is not long:
Sweet Thames, run softly, till I end my song. -
Lines 163-167
From those high towers this noble lord issuing,
Like radiant Hesper when his golden hair
In th'Ocean billows he hath bathed fair,
Descended to the river's open viewing,
With a great train ensuing. -
Lines 168-180
Above the rest were goodly to be seen
Two gentle knights of lovely face and feature
Beseeming well the bower of any queen,
With gifts of wit and ornaments of nature,
Fit for so goodly stature;
That like the twins of Jove they seemed in sight,
Which deck the baldric of the heavens bright.
They two forth pacing to the river's side,
Received those two fair birds, their love's delight;
Which, at th' appointed tide,
Each one did make his bride
Against their bridal day, which is not long:
Sweet Thames, run softly, till I end my song.
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“Prothalamion” Symbols
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Zephyrus
Zephyrus is the Greek name for the west wind. In Greek mythology, the west wind is the softest and mildest wind; as such, it often symbolizes springtime, rebirth, and fertility. By mentioning Zephyrus, Spenser starts this poem about marriage by invoking a symbol of the benefits of marriage, at least as he understands them. In other words, he links marriage and reproduction from the outset. He also connects this mention of Zephyrus to a breeze that makes the heat of the brightly shining sun more bearable, at least for a while; it delays "Hot Titan's beams" rather than stops them altogether. This very subtly hints at a darker side of life that the happy union of marriage forestalls, presenting marriage—like nature itself—as offering a momentary balm from the trials of the world.
- See where this symbol appears in the poem.
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Flowers
The early stanzas of "Prothalamion" describe the "shore of silver streaming Thames" as "painted all with variable flowers." Spenser describes these flowers at length, listing them in lines 30-33. Scholars have often debated whether these flowers hold any symbolic meaning. For instance, the lily is (as Spenser himself notes) a symbol of virginity; likewise, the daisy can symbolize purity. Violets symbolize thoughts of love; the primrose symbolizes protection and safety; the rose is often associated with love and romance. These symbolic meanings are not particularly revealing: in sum, they show us that the poem is concerned with love, innocence, and marriage—which the reader already knows.
Though the flowers are symbolic, their symbolic character is not the most important thing about them. More important are the myths that the act of plucking flowers subtly calls to mind—like the myth of Persephone, in which a young maiden was abducted by Hades while picking flowers with her friends. Underlying the flowers' bland promises of protection and innocence are darker undercurrents. This echoes the undercurrents in the symbol of Zephyrus, another image of fruitful marriage in the poem, whose gentle breeze can only "delay," rather than stop, the intense heat of the day.
- See where this symbol appears in the poem.
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Swans
The speaker chooses not to speak directly about the two women, Elizabeth and Katherine Somerset, whose engagement the poem celebrates. Instead, he represents them with two swans, who appear in the poem's third stanza. Spenser may have chosen swans as a symbol for the brides-to-be for a number of reasons. First, swans were closely associated with the Thames—indeed, the river was famous for its swans. Second, some scholars have suggested that there was a procession down the river in barges shaped like swans for the two brides-to-be. These kinds of processions weren't unusual in Elizabethan England. Finally, swans and poets were often associated with each other in the period. (Ben Jonson called Shakespeare the "sweet swan of Avon.") This connection dates to classical poetry—a body of writing that Spenser draws on throughout the poem to strengthen his celebration of the Somersets and their impending marriage. Most likely, all of these considerations are active at once, making the swans simultaneously symbols of a place (the Thames), an event (a bridal procession), and a profession (the poet).
- See where this symbol appears in the poem.
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Cynthia
In line 121, the speaker compares the swans to Cynthia, the Roman goddess of the moon. The comparison serves to indicate that the swans are much more beautiful than the birds around them, who are like dull, distant stars compared to the glorious moony beauty of the swans. But it also suggests a second, symbolic meaning. Cynthia (Artemis in Greek mythology) was famous for her chastity: the comparison implicitly suggests that the Somerset girls are virgins. It thus contributes to a range of symbols and allusions throughout the poem that emphasize their purity and virginity.
- See where this symbol appears in the poem.
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“Prothalamion” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
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Personification
Spenser describes nature in great detail, loving reporting on the weather, naming flowers, and interpreting the currents of the Thames. As he does so, he often gives these inanimate objects human characteristics, making it seem like they have desires, fears, and the capacity to act. For instance, in stanza 3, he personifies the river by suggesting it is afraid to get the swans' feathers dirty:
[...] even the gentle stream, the which them bare,
Seemed foul to them, and bade his billows spare
To wet their silken feathers, lest they might
Soil their fair plumes with water not so fair,
And mar their beauties bright,
That shone as heaven's light,In this passage, the river is sophisticated, perceptive, and respectful. The swans fear that the water will make their feathers dirty; the river seems to perceive their fear and responds to it, controlling his body, keeping his water from touching their feathers. The river is not simply an inanimate object on which the swans float. He is, instead, an active participant in the drama of the poem—its glorification of the swans and their upcoming wedding.
This alerts the reader to a general pattern in the "Prothalamion." When nature is personified in this poem, it usually acts to reinforce the rituals—and the hierarchies—of human life. For example, in stanza 7, the birds that live along the Thames "enrange" themselves around the swans as they travel down river. The word "enrange" suggests that the birds not only follow the swans, they also arrange themselves in a hierarchy around them, offering "their best service." (The speaker does not tell us what the basis of this hierarchy might be: whether some birds are more beautiful than others or somehow more noble, or whether some other criteria is in play). The birds are granted the capacity to perceive social difference; with that capacity, they recreate, spontaneously, the hierarchical, highly stratified structure of Spenser's own society. In this instance, personification reinforces the structure of human society: suggesting that structure is itself natural and inevitable.
- See where this poetic device appears in the poem.
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Analogy
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Alliteration
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Allusion
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Assonance
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Consonance
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Caesura
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Enjambment
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End-Stopped Line
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Metaphor
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Apostrophe
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Anaphora
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Simile
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Diacope
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"Prothalamion" Vocabulary
Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.
- Zephyrus
- Titan
- Glister
- Sullen
- Rutty
- Variable
- Bower
- Long
- Nymphs
- Espy
- Flood
- Locks
- Entrailed
- Curiously
- Flasket
- Featously
- Pallid
- Vermeil
- Lee
- Pindus
- Strew
- Shew
- Jove
- Leda
- Eftsoons
- Venus
- Team
- Begot
- Somers-heat
- Peneus
- Tempe
- Thessaly
- Mead
- Complement
- Heart-quelling son
- Guile
- Assoil
- Chastity
- Issue
- Undersong
- Adown
- Twain
- Cynthia
- Shend
- Enranged
- Bricky
- Whilom
- Wont
- Templar Knights
- Whereunto
- Hercules
- Prowess
- Arms
- Elisa
- Alarms
- Issuing
- Hesper
- Beseeming
- Baldric
- Tide
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In Greek mythology, Zephyrus is the God of the west wind, which the ancient Greeks considered to be the gentlest and mildest. They also treated it as a symbol of spring, the renewal of life, and the fertility of the earth. Invoking Zephyrus early in the poem, Spenser signals to his readers that the weather during his walk is very pleasant and mild—and that his poem is concerned with the rituals through which human life is renewed: engagement, marriage, and reproduction.
- See where this vocabulary word appears in the poem.
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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Prothalamion”
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Form
There is no precedent for a poem celebrating a betrothal—though there is a long tradition of epithalamia, poems celebrating weddings. Spenser thus needed to develop a new form for his new kind of poem.
The "Prothalamion" is indeed written in an unusual form. Each of its 10 stanzas are 18 lines long; the final two lines of each stanza are a refrain, which repeats with slight variations in its first line. (The second line of the refrain does not change throughout the poem).
There are no clear precedents for this form. Indeed, the longest regular stanza in English poetry is the octave—a full 10 lines shorter than Spenser's stanzas here! In some poems with long stanzas, the reader can divide up the stanza into smaller units, almost as though the stanza were composed of a series of quatrains or tercets that someone had squashed together. One can do that with the "Prothalamion" as well. Here, the units are, roughly, of five lines. These units are marked with the poem's rhyme and its meter. Let's take a closer look at the poem's first stanza to see this pattern in action.
The first five lines of the poem are rhymed abbaa. The first four lines are roughly in iambic pentameter (with a few substitutions here and there). Line 5, however, is only six syllables long, a line of iambic trimeter. In the next five lines we find a similar pattern. The lines rhyme bcbcc; line 10 is in iambic trimeter while the rest are in pentameter.
This an unusual pattern for a poem in English. Generally, English poets avoid using five line stanzas because they are awkward and hard to rhyme. Indeed, the units here are more like quatrains with an awkward extra limb appended to them: because the fifth line of each unit is only six syllables long, it feels like a hiccup or stutter.
In lines 11-16, Spencer repeats this five line pattern and adds an extra trimeter line. Instead of a unit of five lines, one finds a unit of six: a quatrain rhymed dded and a couplet rhymed ee attached to it. Finally the refrain—a couplet of two lines in iambic pentameter— closes the stanza.
The following stanzas also follow this intricate, unusual pattern. It is not a pattern that feels natural or easy to parse: it takes considerable work on the part of the reader to uncover the principles that structure this poem. This has some advantages for Spenser. Instead of feeling like a highly mannered, courtly poem, the poem feels natural. It flows sweetly and softly, much like the river it describes.
Further, the poem has a total of 180 lines. Like Spenser's "Epithalamion," which has 24 sections, each representing an hour of a wedding day, the 180 lines here suggest the movement of the sun, the 180 degrees of the sun's daytime movement from dawn to dusk. Even as Spenser inaugurates a new kind of poem here, he carefully links it to the rhythms of the natural world: the flow of rivers, the movement of the sun.
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Meter
Each stanza of the "Prothalamion" is 18 lines long. Within these long stanzas, Spenser employs two separate meters, switching between them at regular intervals.
The most common meter in the poem is iambic pentameter. For example, in the first stanza of the poem, lines 1-4, 5-9, 11-14, and 17-18 are in iambic pentameter. See line 4:
Hot Ti- | tan's beams, | which then | did glist- | er fair;
Lines 5, 10, 15, and 16 are in iambic trimeter. See line 5:
When I | whose sull- | en care,
Iambic trimeter has the same rhythm as iambic pentameter, but it is two feet shorter. As a result, a line of iambic trimeter inserted between several lines of iambic pentameter can feel, at times, like an abbreviated line—almost a hiccup in the meter.
Spenser often uses this disruption to his advantage. For example, in the first five lines he withholds mentioning himself—or his unhappiness until line 5, the line of iambic trimeter. His entrance into the poem thus feels abrupt, an interruption of the beautiful weather he has so far been describing:
CALM was the day, and through the trembling air
Sweet breathing Zephyrus did softly play,
A gentle spirit, that lightly did delay
Hot Titan's beams, which then did glister fair;
When I whose sullen care,Elsewhere in the poem, the lines in iambic trimeter are less disruptive, continuing or completing a thought begun in the lines in iambic pentameter. (Indeed lines 15-16 in stanza 1 flow naturally from the pentameter lines above them.)
Each stanza may thus be divided into a series of smaller units: two units of 5 lines each, which contain four lines of iambic pentameter and one line of iambic trimeter; a unit of six lines, which contains four lines of iambic pentameter and two lines of iambic trimeter; and finally a couplet consisting of two lines of iambic pentameter. These metrical units correspond to the units of the rhyme scheme.
In a poem as long as the "Prothalamion," metrical variations and substitutions are inevitable—and often not particularly notable. For example, line 3 contains a spondee in its third foot. In a shorter poem, one might puzzle over the meaning of this particular substitution; in a poem this long, the reader can generally assume that these substitutions are simply necessary for the poet to sustain a complex and difficult metrical scheme over 180 lines. For example, in stanza 10, Spenser uses a series of 11 syllable lines, as can be seen in line 169:
Two gentle knights of lovely face and feature
While it may be tempting to read the line's final foot as an amphibrach—an exotic and notable foot—it is more plausibly scanned as a line of iambic pentameter with a feminine ending (that is, an unstressed syllable at the end). The extra syllable is necessary for the rhyme, but the stress is put in the proper place for an iambic line. Here Spenser is widening the pentameter line slightly to give himself more rhyme sounds—interesting as a technical matter, but not particularly significant for interpreting the poem.
There are exceptions, of course: for instance, the trochaic substitution in the first foot of line 1 suggests that the "CALM" the poem describes is an interruption, something unusual and notable—rather than being something ordinary. But, paradoxically, the meter of the poem becomes most interesting when it is at its most strict, when it has the fewest possible variations. Since the poem is so long, we can treat the sections without metrical variation as sites of special intensity, where the poet has been stricter with himself, presumably for good reason. One finds a section like this in the nymph's song in lines 103-106 of stanza 6:
And let your bed with pleasures chaste abound,
That fruitful issue may to you afford,
Which may your foes confound,
And make your joys redoundThese lines are uncannily regular. Scanning meter is not a precise science and there often border cases and ambiguous moments. In these lines there are no such ambiguous cases: indeed it is hard to imagine more perfectly iambic lines written in English. This studied perfection emerges at an important and telling moment in the poem: when the speaker is outlining his rules for the proper forms of sexuality in marriage. Just when he lays out rules, his verse becomes itself scrupulous about following the rules: as if modeling for the brides to be what chaste pleasures feel like.
Similarly, the metrical regularity of the later stanzas of the poem—often considered to be thematic digressions—challenge the reader to think about the relation between those stanzas and the previous: in those later stanzas, Spenser seems to be at pains to show that he is continuing to uphold the scheme he set out for himself earlier in the poem.
In sum, for a poem as complex and variable as the "Prothalamion" the most interesting moments in its meter are not when it breaks the rules, but when it follows them.
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Rhyme Scheme
The rhyme scheme of "Prothalamion" is complicated and highly unusual. Each stanza is 18 lines long. Though each stanza itself is carefully rhymed, the rhyme scheme is not standard between the stanzas.
This first stanza can be divided into a series of smaller rhyme units, of five and six lines apiece. The organization of the rhyme constantly changes, however. For example, the first five lines form one unit, which looks almost like a quatrain in a Petrarchan sonnet (which is rhymed abba):
abbaa
The next five lines form another unit, but this time it looks more like a quatrain in a Shakespearean sonnet (which is rhymed abab):
bcbcc
The next unit of rhyme expands to six lines, with a pattern almost without precedent. (There are some Petrarchan sonnets which exhibit similar rhyme patterns in their sestets):
ddedee
And the stanza closes with a rhyming couplet:
ff
If this all were not disorienting enough, the next stanza introduces subtle alterations into the rhyme pattern that the first stanza establishes. Stanza two is rhymed:
abbaacbcbbddedeeff
The stanzas are quite similar, but note how the order of the rhymes in the second group of five lines has been reversed:
bcbcc
vs.
cbcbb
This particular unit is consistently a site of innovation and disruption in the poem's rhyme scheme.
In stanza 3, it alters yet again, now rhymed as it was in the first stanza:
bcbcc
In stanza 4, however, it's entirely different:
cdcdd
Where previous stanzas had bound together the first and second groups of five lines, using the b rhyme in both groups, this stanza forgoes any such connection between the two, introducing two new rhyme sounds for this group of five lines. Similar moments of disruption can be found in stanzas 5, 6, 8, 9, and 10. Only stanzas 3 and 7 follows the original pattern established in stanza 1 (bcbcc).
The poem thus establishes a complex, original rhyme scheme—and then introduces continuous variations into that scheme. The result is a poem that feels intensely musical without feeling overly organized: its rhymes fall in a natural, unforced rhythm. Indeed, one might see Spenser working to give his poem the sonic character of the river: like the river, this poem flows down the page, babbling and murmuring, with the looseness and freshness of water itself.
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“Prothalamion” Speaker
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The speaker of the "Prothalamion" is an English man, raised in London. He has spent time at the queen's court, looking to improve his political and social position. His ambitions have largely been frustrated, however. In the first stanza, he describes his expectations as "vain" and his hopes as "idle." Later, in stanza 8, he notes that he has lost his patron, an unnamed nobleman who gave him "gifts" and "goodly grace." The speaker thus retreats from the court into nature, wandering on the banks of the Thames River, which runs through London.
Despite his frustrations in politics, the speaker remains a committed English patriot. For example, in stanza 9, he celebrates Robert Devereux's recent victories in Spain and hopes that Queen's Elizabeth's "glorious name may ring / Through all the world." Whatever the speaker's frustrations with politics, he remains engaged in the pressing issues of his day.
In addition to these allusions to contemporary politics, the poem contains a number of other references to historical events. Elizabeth and Katherine Somerset, whose engagements the poem celebrates, were real people, who really did get engaged in 1596. Further, Spencer himself struggled throughout his career to obtain patronage from the Queen and to maintain his position at Court. For this reason, many scholars read the poem as autobiographical: the speaker voices Spencer's own complaints with his political fortunes.
On the other hand, such expressions of political frustration are commonplace in Renaissance poetry. See, for example, Sir Thomas Wyatt's "Mine Own John Poynz," where the speaker transforms his political failures into a testament to his Christian virtue. The speaker of "Prothalamion" is thus an ambiguous figure. At times, he seems to be a real person, with a specific history. At other times, he seems to be a generic figure: a place-holder, who allows Spencer to unfold his highly mannered compliment to powerful and influential people.
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“Prothalamion” Setting
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"Prothalamion" is, initially, set on the banks of the River Thames outside of London. The river is one of the most important waterways in England, running from west of Oxford through London, before emptying into the sea on the eastern coast of the country. The river runs through the intellectual and cultural heart of the country. It is thus often symbolic of the English nation itself, representing the forces that bind the nation into a common culture.
Spenser depicts the river as an idealized space: beautiful, pure, and unpolluted. The meadows along its banks are dense with flowers; its waters are clean (though not clean enough for the swans that ride on it). In fact, during Spenser's lifetime, the river was already highly polluted with run-off from the cities and villages on its banks. In a contemporary poem, "On the Famous Voyage," Ben Jonson describes the river as a site of "stench, disease, and old filth." Spenser's description of the river should not be understood as a literal report on its condition in the late sixteenth century. Instead, it should be understood as an idealized portrayal of a key place in England, a place important to the country and its image of itself. Describing the river as an unspoiled paradise, Spenser implies that England itself is beautiful, pure, and flowering.
In the latter half of the poem, the setting shifts down-river to London itself. The speaker describes a number of important buildings on the banks of the Thames, including a set of buildings—usually called the "Temple"—which served as lodgings for law students in the 1590s. (The name comes from the prior residents of the buildings, the Knights Templar, a medieval charity and order of knights who participated in the crusades—but were suppressed by the Pope in the late 14th century).
The speaker also describes "a stately place," Leicester House—where the betrothal actually takes place. First occupied by the Earl of Leicester, the Earl of Essex lived there in 1596. A powerful figure and favorite of the Queen, Essex's presence in the poem signals Spenser's continued interest in aligning himself with the centers of political power in England at the time. Though many critics have taken these sections as extraneous to the poem, Spenser's return to London—and the centers of political power in England—mark some of the poem's deepest priorities. Though it begins with the speaker fleeing from politics into a natural paradise, the poem remains concerned throughout with acquiring and maintaining political favor for its author.
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Literary and Historical Context of “Prothalamion”
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Literary Context
At the time of its writing, "Prothalamion" was a unique and innovative poem. Dating to the ancient Greeks, there was a long tradition of epithalamium, poems celebrating weddings, with famous examples by poets like Anacreon, Pindar, and Catullus. The genre enjoyed a resurgence of popularity in the Renaissance, with examples written in French and Italian in the 14th and 15th centuries. Spenser himself is the author of a celebrated epithalamion, first published in 1595 with his sonnet sequence Amoretti; Spenser's "Epithalamion" celebrates his own wedding to Elizabeth Boyle in 1594. As one might expect, the genre typically praises the beauty of the bride and predicts happiness for the couple, often relying on natural imagery that makes the marriage itself feel like part of nature.
In his "Prothalamion," Spenser faced a unique challenge in the history of wedding poetry. He set out to celebrate the engagement of two English aristocrats, Elizabeth and Katherine Somerset, to Henry Guildford and William Petre. Elizabeth and Katherine Somerset were the daughters of the powerful Earl of Worcester. Since his poem takes place before the Somersets' weddings, Spenser refrains from labeling his poem an epithalamion. Instead he coins a new word and inaugurates a new genre: the prothalamion. Using the Greek prefix pro-, which means "before," and the Greek noun thalamos, which means "bridal chamber," Spenser's title locates his poem in time. It is a poem which happens before the bride enters the bridal chamber as a married woman.
The "Prothalamion" draws on a number of traditional tropes of the pastoral, a classical genre celebrating the beauty of nature. The pastoral often features a speaker who has withdrawn from political life in search of something more honest and real. Further, the pastoral typically presents nature as an idealized, pure space. Spenser opened his career with a book of pastoral poems, The Shepheardes Calendar (1579). "Prothalamion" marks a return to the pastoral at the end of his career.
Historical Context
Spenser spent the entirety of his career as a poet living under the rule of Queen Elizabeth. In Elizabeth's court, poetry was often used to flatter the queen, to insult rivals, and to gain influence. Spenser spent much of his career in this environment, jockeying unsuccessfully for position and power. Born to common parents, he rose to prominence in English society thanks to his education at Cambridge University and his talent as a poet. He sought—and received—a yearly gift from Queen Elizabeth for his poems, but he was given minor positions in Elizabeth's government, serving mostly in Ireland—almost an exile for ambitious young men in Elizabeth's government. Spenser tried to use his poetry to improve his position, dedicating his most famous work The Faerie Queen to Queen Elizabeth and befriending the influential nobleman Sir Walter Raleigh.
"Prothalamion" is best understood in the context of this jockeying for position in Elizabeth's court. Spenser was not personally close with the brides, the grooms, or the families. The poem is not like a contemporary wedding toast, where someone close to the bride or groom praises them and their match. Instead, it is a public document, an attempt on the part of the poet to gain influence with important people in Elizabethan England. Among these are the brides' father, the Earl of Worcester, a knight and nobleman in Elizabeth's court, and Robert Devereux, the Earl of Essex (whose exploits are detailed in stanza 9). Essex, in particular, was one of Elizabeth's favorite subjects, and a powerful figure at court in 1596.
The Elizabethan Court was a cutthroat and unstable place. In 1601, two years after Spenser's death, Essex attempted to stage a coup d'état against Elizabeth's government. He was unsuccessful and executed; during the rebellion, Worcester was placed under house arrest. It is unclear whether the poem succeeded in meaningfully improving Spenser's position at court. He died shortly after its publication in 1599, after having been driven from his estate in Ireland in the Nine Years' War.
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More “Prothalamion” Resources
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External Resources
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History of the Epithalamium — A detailed history of the genre from which "Prothalamion" emerges, the "epithalamium."
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Leda and the Swan — A poem by the Irish poet W. B. Yeats, which also tells the story of Leda and the Swan—though Yeats's take on it is much less positive than Spenser's.
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Reading of "Prothalamion" — A group reading of "Prothalamion."
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"The Waste Land" — The full text of T.S. Eliot's famous long poem, "The Waste Land," which prominently cites the refrain of Spenser's "Prothalamion." (Jump to section III, "The Fire Sermon" to find the citation).
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"Epithalamion" — The full text of the sister poem to "Prothalamion," Spenser's "Epithalamion," written for his own wedding, the year before in 1595.
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LitCharts on Other Poems by Edmund Spenser
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