Notes
on Epithalamion
Important stanzas:
1.
Now lay those sorrowfull complaints aside
…
The
woods shall to me answer and my Echo ring.
(Stanza 1, lines 11-18)
EXP: In his
masterpiece Epithalamion, " song made in lieu of many ornaments" for
his bride Elizabeth Boyle, Spenser invokes, in classical epic tradition, the
Muses to come to his aid and to sing his wedding song. The speaker
requests the Muses to give up the sorrowful tunes that sometimes they play on
their stringed instruments and come in a happy mood with crowned heads
decorated with garlands and help the creative artist to sing the praises of his
lady love. The praises should fill the void of the forests and everybody should
hear their echo. He wishes that his song should be unique and matchless.
Just as Orpheus, the marvelous lyre-player of the Greek mythology sang his
melodious song to bring his beloved Eurydice back from Hades, Spenser too
wishes to sing his song. But he would not sing his song to please
anybody else (as Orpheus sang his song to Persephone, the wife of Pluto who was
the king of Hades), he would address his song to himself so that he may hear it
back from the forests and the echo of his song may return to his
ear. Spenser, a poet of the English Renaissance spirit is guided by
the new sensibility of human dignity and emerging sense of liberty. Although he
makes use of classical pattern by beginning his poem with an Invocation and
taking recourse to simile from ancient mythology, yet he underlines his
difference by saying that he would sing his song to himself. Orpheus is
guided by a noble sentiment that is his love for Euridice, the speaker of the
lines in question is also guided by the same divine sentiment that is his love
for Elizabeth Boyle. That is why the simile is appropriate.
2, Ye
Nymphes of Mulla which with carefull heed,
………………
No
blemish she may
spie.
(Stanza 4, Lines 56-66)
EXP: In his
nuptial song the speaker addresses the nymphs of Mulla or Awbeg, the river that
flows across the speaker's estate. He also addresses the nymphs of Kilcolman
Lake who look after silver trout and pikes there. He invites them to bride's
chamber; but before they attend to the bride, he wishes that they should clean
their own hair and bind them properly. They should also wash their faces clean
with water before they approach his bride so that his beloved may not see any
blemish on their faces.
In
this stanza, Spenser mixes mythology with realism. In nymphs we can recognise
fishermen's daughters and young peasant girls who would surely attend the
speaker's wedding. He wishes that those country girls should look
clean on that occasion.
3 And
Ye three handmayds of the Cyprian Queene
…………….
The whiles the woods shal
answer and your echo
ring.
(Stanza 6, Lines
103-109)
EXP: In
these lines the speaker addresses the Graces that are supposed to be the
handmaids of Venus, the goddess of beauty. He invites them to come
to the assistance of his beautiful bride and deck her, as they are expert because
they do the make up of Venus. The three Graces are Euphorsyne,
Agalia and Thalia. Cyprian Queen is Venus, the goddess of beauty who was
formerly worshipped in Cyprus. Here the speaker uses
mythological figures for the real maids who are to attend his beloved bride,
Elizabeth Boyle. The maids are seen as handmaids and his bride as
their queen, Venus, a matchless beauty.
4. O fayrest Phoebus, father
of the Muse
……………
That
all the woods shal answer and they echo
ring.
(Stanza 7, Lines
121-127)
EXP: In
these lines the speaker addresses Apollo as the father of the Muse of poetry
and as his sincere servant asks for a favour. He wishes to be totally devoted
to the sacred act of wedding on that day and forget about everything. He wishes
to be the sole in-charge of that one day and for this freedom he is prepared to
surrender rest of his days to the supreme control of Apollo. The
speaker says that if his prayer is accepted, he will sing his sovereign praises
aloud which all the woods shall answer and their echo will reverberate in the
atmosphere.
According
to Hesiod, the Muses are daughters of Zeus (Jove) and Memory. Here Spenser does
not follow Hesiod. Greek Poet Enmelos makes Apollo the father and
not Jove. Thus Spenser also takes liberty and makes the sun god the father of
the Muse of poetry.
5 Her
snowie neck lyke to a marble tower
……………..
To honours seat and
chastities sweet bowere.
(Stanza 10, Lines
177-180)
EXP: In this
stanza the speaker describes the bridal procession passing through the main
street, between two rows of tradesmen's daughters on the steps of their shops.
The onlookers are gazing on the bride in silent admiration. While
asking the tradesmen's daughters whether they had seen any other beautiful
damsel like his ladylove, the speaker describes the bodily beauty of the bride
in the same manner as Sanskrit poets of Shringar Rasa (such as Kalidasa) did in
their poems. It is a sensual and voluptuous description of various parts of
bride's body such as eyes, forehead, cheeks, lips, breasts and nipples. He uses
appropriate beautiful similes in this description. In the lines in question the
speaker compares the snowy neck of his bride to a marble tower and her whole
body to a fair palace in which all other parts are like beautiful and grand
stairs that lead to the seat of honour and chastity that is head.
The
poet uses the Platonic conception of perfect beauty which, he says, leads the
mind, "with many a stately stair", to the seat of perfect divine
virtue. Baldassare Castiglione also underlined this conception of beauty
in his treatise,The Courtier, Book IV. The influence of Baldassare
Castiglione on Sydney and Spenser was well recognised even by writers of
History of English Literature such as Legouis and Cazamian.
6.
But if ye saw that which no eyes can see
……………………
Medusaes mazful
hed
(Stanza 11, Lines
185-190)
EXP: In this
stanza the speaker extols the virtues of his ladylove in a chivalric manner
before the daughters of tradesmen who watch the bridal procession from the
steps of their shops.
The
speaker tells the onlookers that they could see only the outward beauty of the
bride. If they could see the inner beauty of her lively spirit that is
embellished with divine gifts, they would have been 'astonished' to see that
beauty as any body who stared at the head of the mythological Medusa was
'astonished', or converted into a stone. Although the comparison is not
appropriate (Medusa being an image of ugliness), yet it conveys the sense that
the inward beauty of the bride is of highest degree that can make the onlookers
dumbfounded. Spenser uses this simile to play on the word, 'astonished'. According
to the classical mythology Medusa was one of the Gorgons, the three monstrous
sisters who lived in the Far East near the infernal region. When the
sea-god Neptune defiled the temple of Minerva, the goddess of wisdom and chastity
transformed the hair of Medusa into snakes and gave her power to turn anyone
who gazed at her into a stone ('astonished'). Petrarch makes Medusa a defence
of Chastity against love; Spenser makes her a defence of virtuous love against
vice.
In
this stanza also we see Spenser's Platonism. Like Castiglione he
also underlines the Platonic conception that external beauty is an index of
internal or spiritual beauty. After describing the beauty of the
body of his beloved he describes the beauty of the soul in Platonic
terms.
7. There
dwels sweet loue and constant
chastity
………………….
Thereto
approach to tempt her mind to
ill.
(Stanza 11, Lines 191-197)
EXP: In
these lines the speaker showers praise on his bride's inward beauty which no
one but he can perceive. He tells the daughters of the tradesmen
that his bride's internal beauty is a repository of spotless faith, pleasing
womanhood, great concern for honour and mild modesty. There Virtue
reigns as the supreme queen in royal throne and proclaims laws of her own free
will. No evil thought can ever enter her mind to pollute her to evil
designs. Virtue can suppress all evil thoughts and base affections that
may approach her to tempt her mind to do something unbecoming of her beauty.
This
exaggerated exaltation of beauty is typical of Renaissance scholars. This view
was prevalent among almost all the poets including Shakespeare and John Donne
who wrote love poems.
8. How
the red roses flush up in her
cheekes
………………………..
The
more they on it
stare
(Stanza 13, Lines
226-233)
EXP: In
these lines the speaker gives a beautiful description of the maidenly blushes
of his bride at the church when the priest addresses her and blesses her with
happy hands of her companion on their wedding day. While she blushes
with emotion, her snow white cheeks flush into rosy hue, marking her spotlessly
white cheeks stained with vermilion and her beauty makes even the angels
guarding the sacred altar forget their holy office and stare on her face with
amazement which grows more and more beautiful at every stage. After Spenser
Alexander Pope also gives a similar description of beauty in his poem, Rape
of the Lock: "The fair each moment rises in her charms, /Repairs her
smiles, awakens every grace. /And calls forth all the wonders of her face, /
Sees by degrees a purer blush arise,"(Canto I, Lines 140-43). Spenser is
rightly called a poets' poet. We hardly find any parallel to Spenser's passage
describing the blushes on the maidenly cheeks anywhere in the whole gamut of
English poetry before him.
9. Pour
out the wine without restraint or
stay
………………
For
they can do it
best. (Stanza
14, Lines 250-258)
EXP: In these
lines the speaker gives the description of the wedding feast. In the
ecstatic and jolly mood the bridegroom orders the attendants to pour out wine
in the glasses for guests without any restraint or stay. It should
be non-stop activity till the stomachs of the feasting guests are full of wine.
Just as in ancient Rome the newly wed bride anointed the pillars of
bridegroom's house, so the bridegroom wants the wine should be sprinkled on the
posts there so that they may also appear to have sweat and got drunk. He
requests Bacchus, the god of wine, to crown himself with a coronal and he also
requests Hymen, the god of marriage, to put on a wreath of vine. He
asks the Graces to dance for the rest of the time for they alone can perform
dance in the finest manner.
This
is a brilliant passage bringing out the Bacchus revelry at the wedding feast.
It also reveals to us that the speaker can use pagan rituals to make his
wedding a memorable occasion. All is fair in love.
10. This
day the sunne is in his cheifest hight
……………………….
When
once the Crab behind his back he
sees.
(Stanza 15, Lines
265-269)
EXP: In
these lines Spenser gives an exact account of his wedding day, i.e.11th of June
1594, a day
that is sacred and
holy. It was holy because it was his wedding day, and it is sacred
because it was St. Barnabas Day. The speaker describes the position of the sun
on that day. The sun on that day usually is in his "meridian
tower" with Barnaby the bright from where it declines gradually and then
loses its heat and brightness till it moves into the sign of Cancer on the 21st of
June.
The
passage also shows the thirst for scientific knowledge that was so
characteristic of Renaissance intelligentsia. Spenser exhibits almost correct
understanding of Astronomy that was part of contemporary
knowledge.
11. Ah
when will this long weary day haue end
…………………..
Thy tyred steedes long
since have need of rest.
(Stanza 16, Lines 278-284)
Exp: In
these lines the speaker expresses his desire to be with his bride as soon as
the day is over. He feels that the day has been very long while he
waits for that sweet moment to be in bed with his beloved. The waiting is very
painful. He thinks that the hours are moving at a snail's pace.
Hence he chides the sun for being slow. He addresses the sun and
tells it that it should plunge hastily into the western waves. The sun's horses
are now very tired and need immediate rest after the tiresome journey of the
longest day of the year.
The
impatience of the bridegroom to embrace his lady love in bed makes him feel
that the wheel of hours move slowly. He prays to the sun to speed up
its movement towards the west where it sets and rests so that he may celebrate
the honeymoon for which he waited for long.
12. Fayre
child of beauty, glorious lamps of
love,
………………………
That all the woods them
answer and their echo ring.
(Stanza 16, Lines 288-92)
EXP: (Context of these lines
is the same as in the above lines. 'He waited for the evening and at last
evening did come')
The
speaker is at last happy that the sun is slowly setting and the evening star,
Hesperus or Venus is rising in the east. (But Venus rises in the west, so it is
controversial. Spenser may be having the moon in his mind because it is the
moon "with golden creast" that leads all the stars in the sky or he
may be confused about the rise of Venus}. He says that the evening star is the
glorious lamp of love that guides all lovers at night. The star looks
very cheerful to see the happy wedding guests rejoicing on the occasion and
singing songs with joy that will woods answer and their echo fills the
atmosphere.
13. Behold
how goodly my fair loue does
lie
……………………
With
bathing in the Acidalian
brooke.
(Stanza 17, Lines
305-310)
EXP In these lines the
speaker describes his bride lying in proud humility in her nuptial bed like
Maia who was taken away by Jupiter while she was dozing on the flowery grass in
Tempe after getting tired because she had been bathing for long in the nearby
Acidalin brook. Maia was one of the Pleiades, the seven daughters of Atlas who
was visited by Zeus and became the mother of Hermes. Tempe is the vale of
Thessaly, sacred to Apollo. Acidalin brooke the fountain of the
Orchomenos, Boetia, sacred to Venus; Spenser deliberately shifts it to Tempe
for its associations.
In
order to describe the bride's proud humility in her lying in nuptial bed the
poet introduces a fine simile. This passage is noted for its
suggestiveness. Just as Zeus visited Maia in the bower in Tempe, the
speaker is also going to visit his beloved (Elizabeth Boyle) in her bridal
bower to share the secret joy of love's
felicity.
14. Let
the night be calm and
quietsome,
……………………..
And begot
Majesty.
(Stanza 18, Lines
326-331)
EXP: The
speaker wishes that the night for making love in the nuptial bed should be calm
and quiet. It should not be disturbed by any storm or tempest. No activity of
terror should happen at that night. That night should be like one at which
Jupiter shared the bed of Alcimena who became pregnant and then gave birth to
Hercules or it should be like one at which Night herself met Jupiter and became
the mother of Majesty. (This version is different from Ovid's).
Alcimena
was the wife of Amphitron. Jupiter visited her in her husband's
likeness, miraculously extending the duration of night. Hercules was
born of that union at Tiryns, Hence Tyrinthian groom.
15. The
whiles an hundred little winged loves,
……………………………….
Conceal'd through covert
night.
(Stanza 20, Lines
357-363)
Exp: In
these lines Spenser gives us a chaste and charming vision of nuptial delights
enlivned by fancy. The cupids are painted here as little winged
loves. They signify the playfulness in the act of lovemaking on that
night. The playful acts are compared to little doves and the bride
with a storehouse of delightful pleasures is compared to a bird to be caged by
the lover. The imagery of preying has suggestiveness of sexual encounter.
It
is remarkable feat of poetic art that Spenser draws a modest veil to describe
the voluptuous aspects of the nocturnal pleasures of the nuptial bed without
making the description explicit or vulgar.
16. Who
is the same, which at my window
peepes?
……………..
That may our comfort
breed.
(Stanza 21, lines
372-387)
Khushwant singh was one of the best
known Indian writers and coloumnists. In this story the The Portrait of a Lady the author recollects his memories of his
grandmother.
