Notes to Epithalamion
1.learnèd sisters: Spenser calls on the nine Muses for inspiration after the manner of the poetic conventions. Since Homer's age the Muses were regarded as patronesses of learnlng, hence 'learnèd. The poet needs special skill and art to commemorate his wedding day. Lines1-6 are the poet's invocation to the Muses.
Which: who. This clause continues to the end of line 6.
2.Been...aiding: (have) been my help or assistance.
Others to adorn: to adorn others; in such ways as Spenser did in the dedicatory sonnets prefacing The Faerie Queene.
3.Whom: 'others' whom.
graceful: conferring grace or honour, but with the secondary sense of 'elegant'.
rhymes: verses, poetry.
4.That: so that.
even the greatest: referring to Queen Elizabeth and her courtiers, to whom Spenser paid many compliments in The Faerie Queene.
not..scorn/ To: not disdain to, i.e. deign to.
5.simple: not very elegant, plain.
lays: poems, esp. intended to be sung.
6.in their praise: i.e. in hearing 'their names' praised.
7.list: wish, choose.
mishaps: misfortunes; but here rather 'unlucky accidents'.
7-11. Probably Spenser refers to The Teares of the Muses included in his Complaints, a collection of minor poems. In this poem each of the Muses in turn 'laments' and 'bewails' the decadence of Sixteenth century England.
8.death: Spenser laments the sudden death of Sir Philip Sidney in his pastoral elegy, Astrophel.
wreck: downfall, ruin.
9.string: (in figurative sense) sounds.
soon...turn: i.e. easily tend to take a lower and sadder mode. 'Tenor' in the original sense is a male singer's voice between bas sand alto, hence 'lower tone'.
10.teach...lament: See the note on line 16.
11.dreariment: dreary and dismal condition. This is an irregular form Spenser used.
12.Iay...aside: put away, abandon. This request refers back to 'Ye learned sisters'(1).
complaints: expression of lamentation and grief in poetry, esp. of misfortune in love.
13.garland: one of the key images in Epithalamion and symbolizes seasonal flowers.
14.resound: (in transitive use) repeat in a loud and echoing manner, esp. to celebrate a person or a thing.
15.Ne let...envied: i.e. nor let this praising of my own love be envied by anyone.
envied: In the original text this word is spelt 'enuide' and rhymes with 'bride' (16). The stress falls on the second syllable.
16-17.S0.../So...: Just as...so...
16.Orpheus: Orpheus, son of a Thracian king and of the Muse Calliope, was so skilful in his music and poetry that he could move even things inanimate such as stones, 'the woods and waters' (10). His story is chiefly handed down through Virgil's Georgics (IV,453-527) and Ovid's Metamorphoses (X,1-147). When his wife, Eurydice, was killed by a snake's bite, he dared to go down into the Underworld and sang 'for his own bride' (16) so efficaciously that the Powers of Hell were all charmed, and permitted him to take back his wife; this was to be on one condition: that he would not look back at her until they reached the upper world. But love's passion put him off his guard for a moment, and he turned to see if she was after him; so that Eurydice was lost for a second time.
18. This is Spenser's favourite refrain.
Cp. The Faerie Queene, I,vi,14:
And all the way their merry pipes they sound,
That all the woods with doubled Echo ring.
Echo: Echo is persoified in Greek mythology as a mountain nymph. In Ovid's Metamorphoses she was punished for offending Juno, whom she prevented from spying on an amour of Jupiter's. A hopeless love for Narcissus has made her fade away to become a mere voice.
19.Early: i.e. Early in the morning･
the world's light-giving lamp: i.e. the Sun. The image of the sun as 'the lamp of this world' is classical and is common in English literature.
20.His golden beam...spread: The sun spreads its golden light.
22.Do ye awake: The Muses are awakened to visit 'the bower of my beloved love'.
lustihead: lustiness; vigour and energy. '-head'=-hood.
23.bower: (poetical)a chamber or a bedroom as a lady's apartment. 'Bower' literally means a shady place covered with trees or shrubs.
24.turtle-dove: The turtle-dove is noted for its affection for its mate, so was used as a symbol of true love, esp. in marriage. Here it is a Biblical image.
Cp.the Song of Solomon, ii,14:
O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock,
in the secret places of the stairs, let me see
thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is
thy voice, and thy countenance is comely.
[the Authorized Version]
25.Hymen: the Greek god of marriage, who was generally held to be a son of Apollo by a Muse, perhaps Calliope. Some poets made him the son of Aphrodite(Venus) and Dionysus(Bacchus). He is very often called on for wedding celebrations by classical as well as Renaissance poets in their epithalamia.
26-27. Cp. Catullus, 61;11-15:
come[,Hymen,]join us on our merry day
sing us the festal wedding-song
in little bell-tones high and clear
give us the beat to dance, lift up
and swing the pine-torch blazing.
[trans. by Frank Copley]
26.his masque to move: i.e. to set his masque into action. 'Masque' is here a festive procession of masked people and disguised persons. Hymen anciently bore a flaming torch.
27.tede: tead, torch.
with many a flake: i.e. glittering with sparks.
28.wait on: attend.
29.trim: neat, well-formed.
30.dight: deck, adorn; i.e. dress herself in preparation for the wedding procession.
her: herself.
31.the wishèd day: an expression borrowed from the classics. Spenser married on the summer solstice, which was named according to the church calendar 'St. Barnabas' Day'.
32-33. The day will bring her a long delight, thus recompensing her for 'all the pains and sorrows' that she tasted in the past.
Cp. The Faerie Queene, I, iii, 30:
His lovely words her seemed due recompense
Of all her passèd pains: one loving hour
For many years of sorrow can dispense:
This passage may be taken as referring to the conventional sorrows of lover and mistress: or this may have reference to an actual misunderstanding, or perhaps the enmity of someone on the side of Elizabeth's relatives may have interrupted Spenser's courtship.
That shall.../ Pay: i.e. 'the wishèd day' will surely reward.
33.usury: Literally this word means interest on the money given or received on loan. This 'interest' is paid in return for all her 'pains and sorrows'.
34.whilst while.
doth her dight: dresses herself. 'Doth' is periphrastic and does not imply an emphatic sense.
36.That: so that.
37-51. Spenser may have got the idea of nymphs bringing garlands to adore the bride from French poetry, esp. Marc-Claude de Buttet's Aux Muses Pour Immortalizer la Vertu de Madame Marguerite, stanzas l-7. (See James A.S. McPeek, 'Major Sources of Spenser's Epithalamion' JEGP 35,1936.)
Both poets appeal to the Muses for aid, and command nymphs of rivers and forests (in Buttet 'the Muses' instead) to make garlands for the lady.
37.that you can hear: that can hear you.
39.of the sea that neighbours: i.e. the nymphs (37) of the sea that neighbours. Probably Elizabeth Boyle was married from the house of her brother-in-law, Sir Richard Boyle. His house was near the river Blackwater which flows into the sea.
40.All...goodly well･beseen: i.e. all the nymphs that are adorned with gay garlands, very good-looking and beautiful in their appearance.
43. This beautiful combination of white lilies with roses is a literary convention in love poetry.
44.truelove-wise: in the manner of a true-love knot, i.e. a particular type of knot made by ribbons plaited to symbolize faithfulness in love.
riband: ribbon. The stress falls on the second syllable.
45-47. Cp. Prothalamion, 32-34:
The virgin lilies, and the primrose true,
With store of vermeil roses,
To deck their bridegrooms' posies.
46.eke: also.
48.whereas: (poetical) where.
50.Be strewed: i.e. let the ground(48)...be strewed.
51.And diapered...mead: i.e. and be variegated with flowers just as meadows are with patches of flowers of different colours. The word 'diapered' was used of woven fabric e.g. linen, and it means 'to be patterned in various colours'.
discoloured: variously coloured.
mead: (poetical) meadow.
53.waken: (intransitive use) wake.
straight: straightway, at once.
54.The whiles: meanwhile, whilst.
this song: This is probably the same song referred to as in line 35.
56-61. It is a convention in French epithalamia that the nymphs of local rivers are summoned to attend the wedding celebration. In Buttet's poem the nymphs of the Seine and Marne come with naïads.
56.Mulla: The river Awbeg, which ran through the southern parts of Spenser's estate at Kilcolman. In Colin Clouts Come Home Againe (104ff.) Spenser named the river 'Mulla' because it sprang from a mountain 'Mole', and, 'spreading forth at large', gave its name to the ruin of an ancient city called 'Kilnemullah', i.e. church on the Mulla.
57.tend: attend to, watch over.
58.greedy pikes: This is the object of 'tend'(57).
use... to feed: be accustomed to feed. 'Mr. Peter Harold-Barry, of Ballyvonare, the estate to which Kilcolman now belongs, told me in 1913 that pikes are found periodically in 'the rushy lake'' near the castle, but disappear for intervals. He suggested that coots which haunt the pond bring spawn on their legs and feet, but that the water is for some reason inhospitable to fish.' [Variorum]
60-61. ye likewise... take:
i.e. you nymphs similarly who live in the rushy lake where no fish is found.
62.the which: which.
63.in his waters... make: i.e. in the waters of Mulla which reflect you like a mirror.
his: its.
64.your faces... bright: This is conventional expression. 'As the crystal bright' refers rather to the nymphs' faces reflected in the mirror. As for 'crystal', compare Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, III, ii, 137-39:
O Helen, goddess, nymph, perfect, divine!
To what, my love, shall I compare thine eyne?
Crystal is muddy.
65.that: so that.
66.spy: notice.
67-70. The syntax of these lines would be as follows: 'ye lightfoot maids which keep the deer...and chase the wild wolves...with steel darts'.
67.lightfoot maids: Perhaps Spenser is thinking of the nymphs who serve Diana, the virgin huntress.
keep: guard 'with steel darts' (70)･
68.That... use to tower: Probably Spenser is here describing the manner of deer spirally ascending higher and higher up to the top of a lofty mountain.
69.the wild wolves: 'Wolves were common in Ireland until 700'. [Van Winkle]
70.steel darts: i.e. arrows.
Allusions to the Song of Solomon run throughout Stanza v. Especially compare the following verses from the Song of Solomon, ii,10-12:
My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land: [AV]
74.it is time: i.e. it is time to wake up.
75. This is a traditional expression.
Cp. Homer, Iliad, XI,1:
Now dawn rose from her bed, where she lay by
haughty Tithonus.
[trans. by Richmond Lattimore]
The rosy Morn: 'Aurora', Latin goddess of dawn, who loved the Trojan prince, Tithonos; by her prayer to the gods Tithonus was given immortality, but she forgot to ask for him eternal youth; so that he became a decrepit old man. 'Rosy' or rather 'rosy-fingered' is her Homeric epithet.
76. All ready...climb: i.e. The Morn is quite ready to ascend her silver chariot.
77.Phoebus: another name for Apollo, the son of Jupiter and Latona. Since Apollo is regarded as the sun god, he is called 'Phoebus' (in Greek 'bright'). Phoebus is the 'great father of generation... th'author of life and light' (The Faerie Queene, III,vi,9).
gins: (archaic) begins.
78-89. A catalogue of birds singing as the choir in the church service is a medieval poetic convention which Spenser is very fond of. Notice how each bird is playing its part and is singing in perfect harmony with the others; the lark, traditionally the messenger of dawn, starts to sing 'her matins', then the thrush responds, while 'the mavis' accompanies them in a high note; the high-pitched voice of 'the ouzel' is softened by the gentle tone of the 'ruddock'.
80.matins: morning song. The word 'matins' literally means morning prayer in the church.
aloft: up in the sky.
81.mavis: (poetical) song-thrush.
descant: a song sung or a melody played for a high accompaniment to the plain-song.
82.ouzel: The word 'ouzel' was applied to blackbird generally, but its earlier use included what is now distinguished as 'ring-ouzel'.
ruddock: Probably this is a bird now commonly known as the robin redbreast.
83.with sweet concent: i.e. in perfect concord and harmony.
85-89.why do ye...leaves among: In Elizabethan English a period was often used where a question mark should be used now.
86.meeter were that... : it would be more fitting that... 'Meet' used as an adjective means 'fit', 'proper'.
87.make: (archaic) mate, companion.
88. love-learnèd: taught by love, or rather, inspired by love. This is an irregular form used by Spenser.
Cp. Amoretti, xliii, 11-12:
And eke mine eyes with meek humility,
Love-learned letters to her eyes to read.
89.dewy: 'a favourite epithet in Spenser used in ten different places to describe the face, locks, or beard.' [VanWinkle]
90.pleasance: joy, pleasure.
93-94. i.e. Her fair eyes are like stars which, though having been dimmed with darksome cloud, now send forth their beams.
94.darksome: (poetical) somewhat dark.
goodly: fair and beautiful.
95.More bright...rear: brighter than Hesperus (when it) lifts up its head. 'Hesperus' is 'the evening star' (Venus). But Spenser's use of this name here probably signifies 'the morning star', Phosphorus, to which his bride's eyes are compared. Cp. Stanza xvi (286-87).
Cp. Homer, Iliad. xxii, 317-18:
And as a star moves among stars in the night's darkening,
Hesperus, who is the fairest star who stands in the sky...
[trans. by Richmond Lattimore]
rear: lift up. In the original text this word is spelt 'rere' and rhymes with 'were' (93).
96.daughters of delight: These 'daughters', as Spenser calls them 'three handmaids of the Cyprian Queen' below (103), are perhaps the three Graces who attend on Venus. Their names are given as Aglaia, Euphrosyne and Thalia by Hesiod in Theogony (908-9). The Graces are sometimes present at a wedding celebration together with the Hours as attendants of Venus. Compare Stanza xiv (257) and the note.
'The poet summons the Graces to come quickly to help dress the bride, "but" he adds, "you Hours must come first, and you'' turning again to the Graces, "must help to adorn her" '. [Welsford]
98.fair hours i.e. the Hours whose Latin names are 'Horae'. They were originally goddesses associated with the seasons, and are traditionally attendants of Venus who controls nature. It is a later classical tradition that they are associated with diurnal hours.
According to Hesiod (Theogony, 897-901) they are daughters of Zeus (Jupiter). But here 'fair Hours' are the daughters of 'Day and Night'. It seems Spenser identifies Jupiter with Day (see the quoted passage below). 'The hours' in Epithalamion primarily signify the 24 hours, the whole day of his wedding. They also 'allot the seasons of the year' (100) like the classical Horae.
Cp. The Faerie Oueene, VII, vii, 45:
Then came the Hours, fair daughters of high Jove,
And timely Night, the which were all endowed
With wondrous beauty fit to kindle love;
But they were virgins all, and love eschewed,
That night foreslack the charge to them foreshowed
By mighty Jove; who did them porters make
Of heaven's gate (whence all the gods issued)
Which they did daily watch, nightly wake
By even turns, ne ever did their charge forsake.
100.Which: refers to 'fair hours' (98).
101-2. i.e. The hours make and constantly replenish everything that is fair in this world.
103.the Cyprian Queen: 'Cyprian' is an epithet given to Venus by the Greeks, probably because she entered Greece through Cyprus, where there were temples for her cults.
104.The which...Pride: Cp. The Faerie Queene, VI, x, 15:
Those were the Graces, daughters of delight,
Handmaids of Venus, which are wont to haunt
Upon this hill, and dance there day and night:
And all that Venus in herself doth vaunt,
Is borrowed of them.
The which: who, i.e. 'handmaids'.
adorn her beauty's pride: adorn her beauty with rich magnificence.
106.array: dress, adorn.
throw: scatter, put in.
between: at intervals.
109.The whiles: all this while.
111.Well await: wait upon her carefully as good attendants do.
112.fresh: looking healthy and youthful.
groom: bridegroom. In the original text this is spelt 'groome' and rhymes with 'come' (110).
113.Prepare: This is an imperative.
114.seemly: decent.
117. There was a common saying: 'Blessed is the bride that the sun shines on'.
118.lifeful: having and giving much vitality.
fervent: hot and glowing.
120.Her beauty to disgrace: to mar or disfigure her beauty.
121. According to Hesiod's Theogony, the Muses are daughters of Zeus (Jupiter) and Memory, but Spenser here, following another authority, calls Phoebus 'father of the Muse'. Apollo is indeed the father of the Muses according to some authorities. Spenser is perhaps appealing here to Apollo as the sun god to 'let this one day be' his own by the help of his poetry. Throughout the poem he seems to use the sun image as analogous to the bridegroom and the moon image as analogous to the bride.
122.aright: in the right manner.
123.the thing...delight: something that could delight thy mind.
mote: (archaic) might, could.
124. i.e. Do not refuse to grant thy servant's humble request.
simple: innocent and honest, humble and guileless.
boon: favour.
127.sovereign: highest.
129.minstrels: professional singers and players of instruments who entertained their patrons, here by accompanying the wedding procession.
131.pipe: bagpipe.
tabor: a small drum.
crowd: (from the Welsh crwth) an old Celtic musical instrument resembling a fiddle. 'These were the instruments of Irish popular music.' [Maclean]
132.agree: harmonize with one another.
Withouten breach or jar: without any break or discord of sounds.
133.most of all: above all.
134.timbrels: tambourines.
135.And thereunto do dance: i.e. when they smite (134)...and dance to their tambourines.
136.That: so that.
all the senses...ravish quite: i.e. They enrapture the senses to ecstatic delight. This may refer also to the people listening around them.
137.the boys: They are not necessarily the same 'fresh boys' mentioned in line 112.
138.confusèd noise i.e. Their disorderly voices are made into one confused sound.
140. It was customary in ancient Rome that young people accompanied bridal processions with crying and singing. See the following lines from Catullus (61,117-21) whose refrain Spenser uses here:
lift up your torches, boys, I see
the scarlet veil [the wedding veil] is on the way
come, take up the beat, together sing
'O Hymenaeus Hymen, O
O Hymen Hymenaeus!'
[trans. by Frank Copley]
144.As in approvance: as if in approval.
144-45. do thereto...laud: i.e. The people applaud them and extol her praise by singing loudly.
145.advance: extol or magnify (by praise, hymn).
laud: praise in song. 'Lauds' originally mean hymnal songs of praise in the church.
148.with portly pace: i.e. in a dignified manner of walking.
Spenser refers to her 'portly pride' in Amoretti v,1-2:
Rudely thou wrongest my dear heart's desire,
In finding faults with her too portly pride.
149-50. This is a Biblical image. Cp. Psalms, xix, 4-5:
In them[days] hath he[God] set a tabernacle for the sun, which cometh forth as a bridegroom out of his chamber, and rejoiceth like a mighty man to run his race. [the Geneva Bible; spellings modernized]
Spenser here applies these lines of the Old Testament to the moon, and thus translates the sun image of a bridegroom into the moon image of a bride.
149.Phoebe: This is another name for Diana, the moon goddess. She was the sister of Phoebus which is another name for Apollo, the sun, and was regarded as a kind of female Apollo, hence her name here 'Phoebe'.
151.Clad: clothed.
seems: is becoming to, suits.
152.beseems: (with 'well' or 'ill') looks well (or bad) for a person to wear.
ween: (archaic) suppose, think.
154. Almost all the women in The Faerie Queene have yellow or golden hair, as does the lady in Amoretti, Elizabeth Boyle. Spenser is following the literary fashion, with an intimation perhaps of the fact that his bride as well as Queen Elizabeth had 'golden' hair.
155.and pearling flowers atween: and with flowers scattered among the pearls. Probably 'to pearl' means here 'to scatter'.
atween: in between.
156.her attire: array or clothe her.
158.maiden queen: perhaps an allusion to Queen Elizabeth.
160.as on her do stare: i.e. when those gazers watch her with admiration.
161.affixed are: are fixed.
162.Ne dare lift up: Nor dares (she) 1ift up.
164.So far...proud: In Amoretti the lover very often complains of his lady's 'cruel pride'.
165.Nathless: none the less.
167-70. The syntax of these lines is somewhat ambiguous. Probably a question mark or an exclamation mark may be put at the end of line 170 instead of 168, though this may not necessarily be the poet's real intention.
168.creature: a person created by God; here the word implies admiration.
170.store: wealth, abundance.
171-80.These lines echo the Song of Solomon (iv,1-5; and vii,1-9); but Spenser is also following classical and Renaissance tradition in describing the physical beauty of his bride.
173.rudded: reddened. Cp. Ovid, Metamorphoses, iv, 332-34:
But blushing
Was most becoming. Apples have such color
In the sunny orchards, or ivory, when tinted.
[trans. by Rolfe Humphries]
174. This is a common expression. Cp. Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream, III, ii, 139-40:
O how ripe in show
Thy lips, those kissing cherries, tempting grow.
charming: attracting.
175-76. Perhaps cp. the Song of Solomon, iv, 5:
Thy two breasts are like two young roes
that are twins, which feed among the lilies.[AV]
175.like to: like.
uncrudded: uncurdled, (of cream) before it is coagulated.
177. Cp. the Song of Solomon, vii, 4:
Thy neck is as a tower of ivory.[AV]
180.To honour's seat: In Plato's Timaeus (44) the head is called 'the seat of our divinest and holiest part' [trans. by Desmond Lee], and probably this is the meaning here; but 'honour' esp. applied to woman means 'chastity and purity' as a form of the highest virtue, so 'honour's seat' may imply the female organ and the womb where 'chastity' dwells. In the preceding stanza Spenser praised the physical beauty of his bride, now he praises her 'inward beauty'.
186.liveIy sprite: living spirit; i.e. the inner soul or spirit of a living person.
187.Garnished: decked, adorned.
189.stand astonished: be senseless or benumbed.
like to...read: like those who saw. 'Read' means 'discern or perceive' (archaic).
190.Medusa's mazeful head: Medusa was one of the three Gorgons, monsters who lived in the west near the Garden of the Hesperides and defended the Garden. Her hair was composed of serpents, and whoever looked at her head was turned to stone. In Renaissance literature Medusa was the embodiment of chastity against love, but Spenser's allusion here seems to be somewhat different. She is a defence of virtuous love against lust or vice.
mazeful: amazing, with an association of snaky locks.
192.womanhood: In the original text this is spelt 'womanhed' and rhymes with the original 'hed' (190).
193.Regard of: consideration or attention to.
194-97. This metaphor of the virtue, esp. of reason enthroned as ruling power of emotions and desires is much used by classical writers.
Cp. The Farie Queene, II, xi, 2:
But in a body, which doth freely yield
His parts to reason's rule obedient
And letteth her that ought the sceptre wield,
All happy peace and goodly government
Is settled there in sure establishment.
194.in: on.
196.The which: whom; i.e. 'virtue' (194) personified.
198-99. Cp. Amoretti, lxxxiv, 1-4:
Let not one sparkle of filthy lustful fire
Break out, that may her sacred peace molest:
Ne one light glance of sensual desire
Attempt to work for gentle mind's unrest.
198.uncomely: unbecoming, improper.
199.ill: evil.
201.unrevealèd: hidden in mystery.
204-5. These lines both in diction and imagery echo the Old Testament, Psalms, xxiv, 7 (below). See also Isaiah, xxvi, 2.
Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift
up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory
shall come in. [AV]
206-7. It was an ancient custom in Rome and even in Spenser's times to decorate portals with trees for a wedding celebration. Spenser intentionally puts this pagan custom side by side with the preceding Biblical image.
206.as doth behove: as is proper or fitting. 'Behove' rhymes with 'love' (204).
207. In Catullus' Epithalamium (64) various gods bring their gifts to celebrate the wedding of Thetis and Peleus, when Peneus, a river god from Tempe, brings trees from the woods near his river:
The river god
heaps the foliage
outside & in
until the house
is dressed
for a bride's bower-bed.
is dressed
for a bride's bower-bed.
[trans. by Peter Whigham]
208.For to receive: to receive.
this Saint: Spenser here joins the custom of St. Barnabas' Day with his own marriage and would seem to be identifying his bride with the Patron Saint.
212.Of her...learn: learn from her.
obedience: submissiveness and reverence to God.
215.th'high altar: the chief altar in a cathedral or a church where the Holy Communion service is celebrated. But Spenser primarily means here the place at which the marriage service is concluded.
217.The which...make: i.e. which make endless (eternal) matrimony. The verb 'make' in this context seems to imply 'to be sufficient to form' or 'to be the essential soul of'.
219.notes: tones of singing.
220.with hollow throats: with the throats wide open.
221.choristers: members of the church choir.
joyous anthem: metrical versions from the Bible, set to music, to be sung on such ‘joyous' occasions.
225.happy hands: i.e. the priest's hands that confer blessing and happiness.
226-33. This clause is the object of `Behold' (223).
227.with goodly vermeil stain: i.e. is tinged with beautiful vermilion.
228.dyed in grain: dyed thoroughly. 'Grain' originally was small seed-like insects from which scarlet dye was produced.
229-30. Spenser may be referring to figures of Angels in adoration that often decorated the door of the Altar.
Cp. the Revelation, vii, 11-12･
And all the angels stood round about the throne...and worshipped God, saying, Amen, Blessing and glory, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. [AV]
229.That: so that.
continually without end, forever. This refers to 'do remain' (230).
231-33. The angels here seem to be somewhat like 'putti' or gods of love, who also attended the bride in classical literature.
fly: rhyming with 'continually' (229).
234.sad: grave, sober.
236.That suffers...awry: i.e. 'The goodly modesty' lets not even one look be directed askance in an improper manner. See the note on lines 198-99.
237.unsound: immodest.
239.band: bond.
240. Here the Christian marriage ceremony, to which Roman marriage customs are adapted, is solemnized to a religious height that suggests the Holy Communion, and the unity of Christ and the Church as His bride is symbolized by the matrimony of the bride and the bridegroom.
Cp. the Revelation, xix, 6-8:
And I heard...as the voice of mighty thundering, saying Alleluia... Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.[AV]
Compare also this and the next stanzas with The Faerie Queene, I, xii, 37-39, the betrothal scene of Una and the Red Cross Knight.
243. In ancient Rome great victories were celebrated by magnificent processions called 'triumphs'. Since the ceremony did much to glorify the King as sovereign, this strongly appealed to the monarchs of sixteenth and seventeenth century Europe. It often took the form of ‘triumphal' pageants, which allegorically expressed religious or civic magnificence.
244. Compare Amoretti, lxix, 13-14, in which Spenser describes his lover as:
The happy purchase of my glorious spoil,
Gotten at last with labour and long toil.
the glory...gain i.e. the glory of having gained her.
245.joyance: the action of showing joy.
248.livelong: an intensive of 'long' (of period or time). This is used chiefly in the form `the livelong day (night)'.
250-57. Cp. The Faerie Queene, I, xii ,38:
Then gan they sprinkle all the posts with wine,
And made great feast to solemnize that day;
They all perfumed with frankincense divine,
And precious odours fetched from far away,
That all the house did sweat with great array:
250.stay: control.
251.by the belly-ful: as much as the belly will contain, i.e. as much as they want. The word 'belly' originally meant a skin-bag in which wine was kept.
252.will: wish, request. In the original text this word is spelt 'wull' and rhymes with 'belly-full' (251).
255.Bacchus: The appearance of this Greek god of wine suggests merry-making at the wedding festivity. Crowning him is an interesting contrast with the solemnity of the former stanza.
coronal: 'Coronal' is a circlet for the head as a token of dignity or festivity. Here the word is applied to a wreath of flowers or leaves.
257. In The Faerie Queene, VI, x, 12-15 and 22-24, the three Graces are dancing around one fair lady, perhaps Spenser's Elizabeth. They adorn the lady with beauty, gentleness and honesty.
261.Ring ye the bells: Spenser perhaps refers to change-ringing of the bells to speed the 'wearing' of the day.
262.wonted: customary.
265-66. St. Barnabas' Day is June 11, but the old style calendar, which was used in England in Spenser's time, was about 11 days too long, so that the day actually fell on June 22, the summer solstice; hence there was a saying:
Barnaby bright, Barnaby bright,
The longest day and the shortest night.
267. The sun 'declines, after the solstice and moves from the house of the Crab to that of the Lion.
by degrees: little by little, with the secondary sense of astronomical 'degrees'.
268.somewhat...of: something of.
269.When once: once.
270.ill-ordainèd was: i.e. was unfortunately decided in a wrong way.
was: This rhymes with 'pass' (273).
272.when...were: i.e. when it would be fitter for the night to be the longest. In the original text both 'were' and 'year' (271) are spelt 'weare' and 'yeare', rhyming with each other.
273.Yet never...pass: i.e. yet never is day so long but that it passes at last, 'Spenser may be remembering the one couplet of Stephen Hawes that has survived in men's minds:
For though the day be never so long,
At last the bells ringeth to evensong.' [Renwick]
275. With the summer solstice was connected the Midsummer festival. Even now it is celebrated in Europe on St. John's Eve (June 23), when both the bell ringing by young men and the making of bonfires are customs. Here Spenser refers to bonfires made in the daytime and not in the evening. In medieval Europe bonfires often represented the waning or waxing sun, and perhaps the bonfires here are meant to 'make the day wear away'; or they might be to celebrate a public event.
279. leave: permission.
love: This rhymes with 'move' (281).
280.their numbers: the total number, with the secondary sense of rhythm through which the hours 'pass'.
280-81. A question mark was sometimes used for an exclamation mark by Elizabethan writers.
281.sad: sober and strict.
his feathers: This is an image of Time with wings.
282. fairest Planet: The sun was one of the planets in the Ptolemaic cosmology.
284. Thy tired steeds: 'When the sun is rising, the chariot and its steeds are usually described as "fiery"; when setting as "weary".' [Lotspeich]
285.gloom: gloam, become dusk.
286-87. Cp. Catullus, 62, 26-30:
Hesper, what fire more welcome lights the sky?
your flame will tie the knot of nuptial bonds,
by husbands, by fathers long since ratified,
yet never joined before your rise and glow.
what gift of god more blessed than this hour?
[trans. by Frank Copley]
The evening star appears in the western sky and sets soon in the west. The text, however, has it appear in the east and 'guide lovers through nightes dread'. 'East' might be the printer's error for 'west'. Probably Spenser was thinking of the star's influence, that would protect the lovers from evi1 powers all through the night.
286.the bright...crest: This phrase is the object of 'see' (285). 'Crest' is a design used on the top of a coat of arms. Here it signifies the 'beams' from the star.
289.all the host of heaven: Cp. Isaiah, xxxiv, 4: 'And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rol1ed together as a scroll.' And Jeremiah, viii, 2: 'the sun, and the moon, and all the host of heaven..., probably Spenser is thinking of the stars in heaven.
in ranks dost lead: i.e. lead 'all the host of heaven' arranged in their right order.
290.nightes: night's; pronounced in two syllables.
292.laugh: 'Laughter-loving' is a Homeric epithet applied to Venus (Odyssey, VIII, 362; Iliad, III, 424).
atween: between.
293.As joying in the sight: as if Venus were glad to see.
294.these glad many which: these many people who are glad.
296-97. Cp. Catullus, 61, 231-33:
come, maids of honour, close the door
we've had our fun. Husband and wife,
we wish you every happiness.
[trans. by Frank Copley]
296.your delights forepast: your delights, which are now passed.
297.Enough is it, that... 'It' refers to the 'that' clause.
299.bowers: chambers. In the original text both this and 'yours' (297) are spelt 'boures' and 'youres', rhyming with each other.
300. 'Night' actually starts from this line.
disarray: disrobe.
302-4. Spenser, following the epithalamic convention, requests that flowers should be strewn on the bridal chamber, and that it should be adorned with curtains and coverlets.
302. 'Roses and violets' were conventionally flowers for a marriage chamber. But instead of roses Spenser here mentions lilies, thus probably alluding to the Biblical image of this flower (Matthew,vi,28-29). See also The Fearie Queene, II, vi, 16.
304.Arras: a kind of Flemish tapestry having rich pictorial designs and used for wall hangings and curtains.
307-10. It seems Spenser here combines different myths. Maia was the daughter of Atlas and bore Hermes to Jupiter; from her derives the name of the most flowery season, May, so that she is 'lying on the flowery grass'. The field of Tempe, where Apollo pursued Daphne, was thought to be a 'delightful place', gods' paradise. The Acidalian brook, which is associated with Venus in The Fearie Oueene (IV,v, 5), is here used as a symbol of love.
307.Whenas: when.
308-10. This passage refers to 'Maia' (307).
309. 'Twixt: betwixt; between.
she weary was: i.e. she was tired 'with bathing' (310).
was: This rhymes with 'gras' (308) in the original text.
310. the Acidalian brook See Spenser's description of Mount Acidale in The Fearie Oueene (VI, v, 5-8).
314. Note the change of the refrain as night sets in.
316. long days': The original text gives 'daies'. It is difficult to decide whether Spenser meant it to be 'day's' or 'days'. He may imply both. The coming of the night will reward for the 'labour' of the long days, or of the wedding-day if we read 'days' for 'day's'.
defray: pay for 'long days' labour'.
316-18. This clause refers to 'night' (315).
317-18. This figurative expression in which love is represented by financial accounting is a favourite device of Elizabethan writers. Compare lines 31-33.
317.collected: To 'collect' means to gather, esp. money due, as the tax, etc.
318.Hast summed...cancellèd： i.e. have summed up to cross out the total, that is to say, have made up for or compensated for 'all my cares' (317).
for ay: forever.
322.From fear...free: i.e. (that we may be) free from fear.
peril: danger.
324.dread disquiet: fearful trouble or unrest.
326.quietsome: In the original text this rhymes with 'groome' (329).
327.sad affray dark and grievous disturbance of rest.
328-29. Alcmene, daughter of the King of Argos, was betrothed to Amphitryon, but she refused to marry him until he had avenged the death of her brothers. While Amphitryon was once absent at war, Jupiter, disguised as her husband, visited her during the night, which was prolonged to three nights by Apollo's contrivance. Of this union Hercules was born.
329. Tirynthian groom: i.e. Hercules, named after his birthplace, Tiryns. This is a stock epithet in Latin poets.
330-31. According to Ovid's Fasti (quoted below) it was Honour and Reverence that begot Majesty. But here Jupiter begets the goddess by Night. Majesty's function is to keep peaceful order in the universe, and it may be Spenser's idea to let Night, who is mother of chaos and darkness, yield to Jupiter, governor of the night. Compare Stanza vi (98-99), where the Hours were begotten of Day and Night in 'Jove's paradise'.
Cp. Ovid, Fasti V, 23-26:
...until, at length, Honour and Reverence, with mild aspect,
placed their bodies on the nuptial couch, sanctioned by the laws.
Hence did Majesty spring, she who rules the universe and of full
growth was she on the very day on which she was produced.
[trans. by Henry T. Riley]
330.thyself: i.e. 'night'.
334-39. The fear's and miseries mentioned in these lines and the following catalogue of evil powers and of ill omens were believed to have a special influence upon people at the time of their marriage, and Spenser, following the convention of the epithalamium, here makes request to dispel these evils.
334.doleful: sorrowful, sad.
337.misconceivèd：wrongly or erroneously conceived, illusory.
doubt: fear.
339.Make...affrights: strike with sudden fear, terrify suddenly.
340.housefires: fires that burn houses.
helpless: unable to be remedied.
341. Puck: the elf or goblin generally known as Robin Goodfellow. 'Puck' is his common name. This sportive elf was believed to haunt the English countryside playing wicked tricks. He is described in Shakespeare's A Midiummer Night's Dream (II, i, 32-57), but Spenser's Puck seems to be a more malicious spirit taking pleasure in disrupting an
nuptial feast.
sprites: spirits.
342.mischievous: The stress falls on the second syllable.
witches: The belief in witches became prevalent in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries.
343.hobgoblins: mischievous spirits or imps which play tricks on people.
names whose...not: Van Winkle cites some of these names: Philpot and Maho, Hileo, Smolkin, Hillo, Haclito, etc.
344.Fray: (poetical) affray, i.e. frighten.
be: are.
345.screech･owl: the owl that screeches instead of hooting. The owl is regarded as a bird of ill omen.
stork: In Chaucer's Parliament of Fowls (361), the stork is mentioned as the 'avenger of adultery'. Perhaps Spenser bore this in mind when he included this bird among the birds of ill omen.
346.night-raven: The raven is often associated with death.
still: always.
deadly: i.e. in the way that causes death.
347.mighty spells: powerful magic words.
348.afeard: frightened, afraid. This rhymes with 'heard' (345).
349-50. By these humorous lines Spenser was perhaps thinking of the marshy pond at Kilcolman.
351.dreary accents: words or songs in dismal tone.
353.night-watches keep: keep watch all through the night. The night was anciently divided into four periods for guard purposes. These periods were called 'the watches of the night'.
354.in assurance: with confidence and certainty.
355.timely sleep: sleep taken at a suitable time.
356.pour his limbs forth: (Latinism) stretch his limbs.
Cp. Virgi1, Aeneid. V, 836-37:
The sailors, stretched [poured out] on their hard
benches under oars, relaxed their limbs in quiet rest.
[trans. by H. R. Fairclough]
plain: i.e. a marriage-bed.
357-63. Cupids, sons of Venus, are very frequently depicted as visiting the bridal chamber in Renaissance tapestries and poems.
358.divers feathered doves: doves of various colours. 'Doves' rhymes with 'reproves' (360).
360.that none reproves: so that no one reproves them.
361.pretty stealths: i.e. kisses secretly stolen by lover.
Cp. Catullus, 7:
how many stars when silent hangs
the night
look down and see
men filching love
just kiss me kisses that many times
"crazy!"
[trans. by Frank Copley]
364.sports: amorous dalliance or intercourse.
at will: as you wish.
364-67. The story of Cupid and Psyche is reflected in these lines. 'Pleasure' here seems to be personified since according to Spenser she is the daughter born from their happy union; now she seeks her own 'paradise of joys' and is careless what 'toys' may be employed by the sons of Venus, with whom now the husband and the wife themselves seem to be identified in their happy marriage-bed.
Cp. The Faerie Queene, III, vi, 50:
And his true love fair Psyche with him [Cupid] plays,
Fair Psyche to him lately reconciled,
..............................................................
But now in steadfast love and happy state
She with him lives, and hath him borne a child,
Pleasure, that doth both gods and men aggrate:
Pleasure, the daughter of Cupid and Psyche late.
365.careless of: not troubled by or concerned with.
toys
(plural) act of amorous sports or caressing,
367.albeit: although.
368.attend: direct the mind or energy to.
370.that say or sing: This refers to 'none'.
372.Who is the same, which... : Who is the person that...
373.fair face, that…: fair face which...
374.Cynthia: 'Cynthia' is a name given to the Roman goddess, Diana (Greek name Artemis). She is known as the goddess of the moon. The appearance of this goddess probably suggests her influence
upon women's conception and delivery, for Diana was often invoked as patroness of women at their childbirth.
376-77.do thou...spy: i.e. thou, do not be envious of me, to spy on my love. 'Envy' means 'to be a rival to' or 'to compete with'. So the meaning of these two lines would be, 'O fair goddess, do not seek to be my rival in peeping at my love'.
378-81. 'The Latmian shepherd' is a youth called Endymion, who was known for his beauty and perpetual sleep. According to a tradition he was born at Elis, and came to Mount Latmus, where he slept in one of the cool caves; hence Spenser's epithet, 'Latmian'. The moon used to visit him every night to kiss him with her soft ray.
378.though now unthought: though now it is forgotten.
379.a fleece of wool: Cp.Virgi1, Georgics, III, 391-93:
With the lure of such snowy wool, if the legend is worth belief,
Pan, god of Arcady, captivated and tricked the Moon,
Calling her down to the deep woods---a call she disdained not.
[trans. by C.D. Lewis]
But here Spenser, following another classical poet, replaces Pan with Endymion.
381.His pleasures...wrought: i.e. worked or achieved his pleasures with thee.
383.sith: since.
women's labours: i.e. the pains at their childbirth.
384.enlarge: increase.
385.effect...vow: fulfil our earnest prayer. 'Vow' means 'eager prayer'.
386.inform with: i.e. impregnate 'the chaste womb' with. 'Inform' is here used in its original sense, 'to give form, esp. to impart some vital quality'.
timely: Here this word seems to mean 'at a good opportunity'.
387.That may...breed: i.e. (seed) which can engender or produce our offspring.
388.Till which: until that time.
our hopeful hap: fortune or lot for which we now hope.
390.Juno: The Roman goddess of womanhood (the Greek Hera), and the female counterpart to Jupiter. She was closely connected with all aspects of the life of woman. She also brought aid to a woman in labour.
awful: awe-inspiring.
391.Still: always.
392-93. the religion of the faith...rites: This phrase is the object of 'solemnize' (393). The betrothal ceremony ('first plight') was much solemnized in Spenser's days.
392.the religion of the faith: the faithful bond. 'Religion' is derived from a word meaning 'bond'.
plight: plighted; i.e. 'the faith' solemnly promised.
394-95. Cp. Catullus, 34, 13-14:
thou art Lucina Juno when our mothers in the
agony of childbirth cry aloud unto thee.
[trans. by Frank Copley]
395.Of: by.
smart: i.e. pains of childbirth.
396.lovely: loving.
398.glad Genius: Genius was originally a Roman god who presided over the family line; and was the god of birth and regeneration. By and by he was regarded as the good or the bad 'spirit 'of any individual. Spenser is certainly thinking of the Genius of regeneration in this line (see the quoted passage below), but the mention of 'glad' Genius seems to suggest he also means the 'good' Genius as the guardian of the individuals.
Cp. The Faerie Queene, III, vi, 32:
He [Genius] letteth in, he letteth out to wend
All that to come into the world desire;
A thousand thousand naked babes attend
About him day and night, which do require
That he with fleshly weeds would them attire.
399.genial: (of marriage) generative as well as pleasantly warm. There is a play on 'Genius'.
400.Without bIemish or stain: i.e. 'remain' (309) without blemish or stain.
401.Perhaps the syntax of this line would be easier to understand if we supply 'who' after 'And'. This clause continues to 'fruitful progeny' (403).
402.succour: help, assist.
404.timely: in due course of time, referring to the future.
405.Hebe: 'Hebe' (in Greek 'bloom of youth' ) was a daughter of Jupiter and Juno. She is often mentioned as the cup-bearer to the gods. But Spenser, as well as Renaissance poets, primarily regards her as the goddess of youth.
free: not grudging, liberal.
409.the temple of the gods: The idea that in the 'high' heavens there are gods living is common in Renaissance writers.
410-12. The idea of light illuminating the darkness is Christian as well as Platonic, and is very frequent in Spenser's works.
411.clods: i.e. human beings as made of earth.
413.powers...remain: Angels were thought to govern the nine hierarchical spheres of the heavens. Spenser seems to include in the 'powers' also planetary influences. Compare this passage with An Hymne of Heavely Beautie (78-91).
414. This line refers to 'remain' (413).
More: i.e. greater in number.
feign: picture to oneself, imagine.
416.influence: In astrological use this word means the powers of the stars and the heavens affecting the characters and fates of all creatures on earth.
418.the earth...possess: The idea of God's people inheriting or possessing the earth is frequent in the Bible.
419.With lasting happiness: This phrase refers to 'possess' (418).
420.haughty: exalted, high.
mount: i.e. mount 'from the earth' (418).
421.guerdon: reward.
422.heavenly tabernacles: A tabernacle is a tent used for the Jewish temple, and the word is applied to the human body regarded as the temporary abode of the soul or of life. Cp.IICorinthians,V,1:
For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.[AV]
423.for to increase the count: i.e. to increase the number 'of blessed saints'.
425.till then: i.e. till they as well as their posterity inherit heavenly tabernacles.
timely: used with rich associations. The word here seems to suggest some anticipatory 'time' when their 'joys' are granted both on the earth and in the heaven.
427-33. The last stanza, which is called 'envoy' in English, is the poet's comment on the main part of his own song. It is addressed to 'song' (427) itself, but the intention of the envoy is to let the readers know the occasion of the composition of this poem. However, the meaning and the syntax of the lines are not always clear. If we take 'many ornaments' (427) literally, the wedding day seems to have been suddenly advanced owing to some 'hasty accidents' (429), so that the poet could not have time enough to prepare for the bride 'many ornaments' with which he would have decorated her (in this context 'which'((429))for the object of 'cutting off'). The poet says this poem was written in 'recompense' both for the ornaments she would have been endowed with and for the shortness of this happy day. This perhaps is primarily what the poet wishes to inform readers of.
But by 'many ornaments' Spenser seems to be suggesting a metaphorical meaning as well. We must recall that Epithalamion was published in one volume with Amortti, whose sequence ends in the separation of the two lovers. By 'ornaments' Spenser seems to mean 'sonnets' which he would have written to bring his own courtship to a happy end, and 'in lieu of' these 'ornaments', he says, this Epithalamion was written, partly owing to an unexpected lack of time, and partly to bring their love to a happy consummation. So understood, this poem really 'recompenses' the deficiency of its counterpart, Amoretti.
427.in lieu of: instead of.
428.duly: in a proper way.
429.Which: i.e. 'many ornaments'.
hasty: sudden.
430.would not stay...expect: i.e. did not wish to await expectantly the adequate course of time (for the composition of the poem).
431.But...recompense: i.e. but ye promised to compensate both for the loss of 'ornaments' and for the 'hasty accidents'.
433.for short time...monument: a monument that eternally commemorates the 'short time', i.e. the poet's wedding day. This would be the primary meaning. But the line seems to connote the idea that the monument in turn keeps on creating the 'short time' endlessly once it has been erected.
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