Prothalamion by Edmund Spenser summary and analysis

 

The term Prothalamion is a Spenserian neologism invented to signify a preliminary nuptial song. Just like Epithalamion, this too a spousal verse written in the form of the loveliest wedding odes. The verse is essentially the wedlock of twin sisters; Lady Catherine and Lady Elizabeth with Henry Gilford and William Peter. The daughters of Edward Somerset, the earl or Worcester. This poem is vastly different from Spenser’s own nuptial song. Prothalamion is shorter more pensive and philosophical.

The poet walks along the banks of River Thames to forget the worries of his personal life. He was completely frustrated with the Job at the court and all he wanted is some mental peace. The cool breeze covered the heat of the sun by reflecting a shade of tender warmth. There are flowers everywhere and the birds chirp happily. The poet as a refrain requests the river to flow softly until he ends his song.

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,

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,

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,

Against the bridal day, which is not long:

Sweet Thames, run softly, till I end my song

It was a calm day for the speaker with a light breeze in the air, which cooled things down and lessened the heat of the brightly shining sun. He was frustrated with the time wasted at court: his political ambitions had failed, and his hopes turned out to be empty illusions. To make himself feel better, he went for a walk along the banks of the river Thames. The shore and the meadows surrounding the river were covered with flowers, it was 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 he finishes his poem.

The poet happens to see a group of nymphs along the banks of the river. Here the poet makes use of first Mythological figure, the nymphs which are supernatural maidens known for their purity. Every nymph looked stunning and had loose strands of hair falling to the shoulders. Nymphs together prepared bouquets of flowers with primroses, white lilies, red roses, tulips, violets and daisies.

 

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;

And each one had a little wicker basket,

Made of fine twigs, entrailed curiously,

In which they gathered flowers to fill their flasket,

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,

To deck their bridegrooms' posies

Against the bridal day, which was not long:

Sweet Thames, run softly, till I end my song.

In a meadow by the river, the speaker can see 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, lilies  and vermeil roses, which they would use to decorate their bridegrooms on their wedding day, which was not far away.

He can also see two beautiful swans swimming down the river Lee. I had never seen such beautiful birds. 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.

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.

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. Indeed, the river was so covered in lilies that it seemed like the floor of a bridal chamber.

The speaker further pray that Venus, the queen of love, and her son, Cupid, will smile on the brides, and with their smiles, the celebration shall take place smoothly without any struggles. He also prays that their hearts will be full of peace.

Later, 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 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.

Wedding starts at London and poet point every detail of the wedding, the mansion the atmosphere. The poet describes the place where wedding ceremony is being performed in the mighty castle of the Earl of Essex. In the he final stanza, in which the Earl of Essex walked towards the river, he is accompanied by the two grooms. They look like the twins of Jupiter namely Castor and Pollock. Both the grooms hold the hands of their brides and wedding begins.   

Central theme

The Comfort of Nature

At the outset 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.  Because of that the speaker goes out towards the bank of the Thames in the first place. Walking along the banks of the river eases the speaker’s mind 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.