Prothalamion Poem Line By Line Explanation

CALME was the day, and through the trembling ayre

Epithalamion is an ode written by Edmund Spenser as a gift to his bride, Elizabeth Boyle, on their wedding day. The poem moves through the couples' wedding day, from the groom's impatient hours before dawn to the late hours of night after the husband and wife have consummated their marriage. ISC 11 AND 12 POEMS ( REVIRE) Line By Line Analysis of the Poem Crossing the Bar by Alfred Lord Tennyson ISC Class 11 and 12 English LINE BY LINE ANALYSIS OF THE GIFT OF INDIA ISC CLASS 11 AND 12 ENGLISH Critical Appreciation and line by line analysis of A Teenager’s Prayer by J.Morse Maharashtra Board class 10 English LINE BY LINE. Students can also check English Summary to revise with them during exam preparation. Fire and Ice Summary Line By Line Analysis and Explanation in English. About the Poet Robert Frost (1874-1963) was an American poet. His work was initially published in England before it was published in the United States.

'Prothalamion' by Edmund Spenser is a long verse 'written as a wedding song for the daughters of a duke.' Rather than write with a divergence of thought, Spenser uses a continuous thought.

Sweete-breathing Zephyrus did softly play

A gentle spirit, that lightly did delay

Hot Titans beames, which then did glyster fayre;

When I, (whose sullein care,

Through discontent of my long fruitlesse stay

In princes court, and expectation vayne

Of idle hopes, which still doe fly away,

Like empty shadows, did afflict my brayne,)

Walkt forth to ease my payne

Along the shoare of silver streaming Themmes;

Whose rutty bank, the which his river hemmes,

Was paynted all with variable flowers,

And all the meades adornd with dainty gemmes,

Fit to decke maydens bowres,

And crowne their paramours

Against the brydale day, which is not long:

Sweet Themmes! runne softly, till I end my song.

* * * * *

With that I saw two Swannes of goodly hewe

Come softly swimming downe along the lee;

Two fairer birds I yet did never see;

The snow, which doth the top of Pindus strew,

Did never whiter shew,

Nor Jove himselfe, when he a swan would be

For love of Leda, whiter did appeare;

Yet Leda was (they say) as white as he,

Yet not so white as these, nor nothing near;

So purely white they were,

That even the gentle stream, the which them bare,

Seem’d foule to them, and bad his billowes spare

To wet their silken feathers, least they might

Soyle their fayre plumes with water not so fayre,

And marre their beauties bright,

That shone as heavens light,

Against their brydale day, which was not long:

Sweet Themmes! runne softly, till I end my song.

* * * * *

So ended she; and all the rest around

To her redoubled that her undersong,

Which said, their brydale daye should not be long:

And gentle Eccho from the neighbour ground

Their accents did resound.

So forth those ioyous Birdes did passe along

Adowne the lee, that to them murmurde low,

As he would speake, but that he lackt a tong,

Yet did by signes his glad affection show,

Making his streame run slow.

And all the foule which in his flood did dwell

Gan flock about these twaine, that did excell

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 Themmes! runne softly, till I end my song.

At length they all to mery London came,

To mery London, my most kyndly nurse,

That to me gave this lifes first native sourse,

Though from another place I take my name,

An house of auncient fame:

Prothalamion Poem Line By Line Explanation Analysis

There when they came, whereas those bricky towres

The which on Themmes brode aged backe doe ryde,

Where now the studious lawyers have their bowers,

There whylome wont the Templer Knights to byde,

Till they decayd through pride;

Prothalamion Poem Line By Line Explanation Examples

Next whereunto there standes a stately place,

Where oft I gayned giftes and goodly grace

Of that great lord, which therein wont to dwell.

Whose want too well now feels my freendles case;

But ah! here fits not well

Olde woes, but ioyes, to tell

Against the bridale daye, which is not long:

Sweet Themmes! runne softly, till I end my song.

* * * * *

PROTHALAMION:

Prothalamion Poem Line By Line Explanation Example

Prothalamion, the commonly used name ofProthalamion; or, A Spousall Verse in Honour of the Double Marriage of Ladie Elizabeth and Ladie Katherine Somerset,^[1]is apoembyEdmund Spenser(1552–1599), one of the importantpoetsof theTudor PeriodinEngland. Published in 1596^[1](see1596 in poetry), it is anuptialsong that he composed that year on the occasion of the twin marriage of the daughters of theEarl of Worcester, Elizabeth Somerset and Katherine Somerset, toHenry GuildfordandWilliam Petre, 2nd Baron Petrerespectively.

Prothalamion is written in the conventional form of a marriage song. The poem begins with a description of the River Thameswhere Spenser finds two beautiful maidens. The poet proceeds to praise them and wishing them all the blessings for their marriages. The poem begins with a fine description of the day when on which he is writing the poem:

'Calm was the day and through the trembling air
The sweet breathing Zephyrus did softly play.'

The poet is standing near the Thames River and finds a group of nymphs with baskets collecting flowers for the new brides. The poet tells us that they are happily making the bridal crowns for Elizabeth and Katherine. He goes on his poem describing two swans at the Thames, relating it to the myth of Jove and Leda. According to the myth, Jove falls in love with Leda and comes to court her in the guise of a beautiful swan. The poet feels that the Thames has done justice to his nuptial song by 'flowing softly' according to his request: 'Sweet Thames run softly till I end my song.' The poem is often grouped with Spenser's poem about his own marriage, the Epithalamion.

Prothalamion Poem Line By Line Explanation

Prothalamion is Spenser's second wedding song; the poem is modelled on his own marriage song called Epithalamion. In this poem he celebrates the occasion of the marriage of the daughters of Earl of Worcester. In this poem the poet attempts to win a patronage and the favour of the Queen.

Prothalamion (1596) was written at a time in his life of disappointment and trouble when Spenser was only a rare visitor to London. Here he is a passive observer than the bridegroom turned poet and hence though as beautiful metrically as his own marriage ode Epithalamion, it naturally does not voice the same ecstasy of passion. We find reference in the poem to the poet's own discontent to the history of Temple as to the achievements of Essex.

Prothalamion Poem Line By Line Explanation Pdf

According to C. S. Lewis, 'interesting as they are in themselves, they do not seem to contribute much to total effect.' The poem has two themes—the obvious one of celebrating the ladies going to their betrothal and the personal theme which serves for introduction and passing reference once again towards the end. The tone of the two is in great contrast. The first one is gay, full of colour, beauty and hope of fulfillment; the second sad and tragic. The poet is conscious of the contrast and makes an attempt to suppress the sad not in a gay poem. At one point the poem verges on the elegiac but the poet deliberately steers himself to the opposite shore on consideration of decorum.

It Is a cleverly contrived poem. So far as the poet is concerned the more important theme is the personal one, the statement of neglected merit, the loss of the great patron and the acquiring of a new one in Essex. But this is hidden and artfully introduced. The most powerful lines are those devoted to Essex to whom Spenser devotes about 23 lines. These lines are direct address. The poem is skillfully directed to take in this matter. The train of thought and the plan of poem are so conducted that the passage on Essex is integral and not superimposed. The bridegroom’s play a minor role and are colorless and have only a reflected glory which they take from Essex.

The verse is an adaptation of the Italian canzone of 18 lines with varying rhyme scheme. The last two lines serve as a burden/refrain to the whole poem. The last line is repeated with variation. And the penultimate line slightly varied to suit the meaning. Poem is lyrical throughout and the repetition adds to the lyrical effect. The organization of stanza makes for great variety in the cadence with the mixing of 10 syllabic and 6 syllabic lines. There are fourteen of the former and four of the latter in each stanza. The successful handling of the very complicated arrangement shows the poet's mastery over a new metre.

In Spenser's poetry we get a characteristic blending of mythology and realism. Spenser added a new dignity to English verse by handling it in an exalted manner with a unique style, thought and art.