Some Themes in Spenser's "Prothalamion"

Abstract

Edmund Spenser's Prothalamion is one of the most respected poems in English literature, but most readers rank it somewhat below the magnificent Epithalamion, and some find it rather formal and lacking in warmth of feeling. Typical is this comment: Like the Amoretti, it is not great poetry because it does not proceed from aroused conviction; it is a set piece, which deserves the praise due to graceful accomplishment. 1 A vague uneasiness is found in the remarks of many critics, one of whom, David Daiches, makes this specific objection in the middle of a generally appreciative and enlightening commentary: The poem ends with just a tinge of abruptness. It might have been better to conclude with the two bridegrooms welcoming their brides-a picture of arrested movement, a tableau on which the curtain could be rung down-instead of moving on to give a very summary account of the wedding ('Which at th' appointed tide / Each one did make his bride'). But the refrain restores calm evenness of pace at the end. 2 If the four lovers are the main figures in this spousall or betrothal poem, then Mr. Daiches' tableau may well be the answer to his problem; indeed, some such tableau may be all that readers of such a poem ought to expect. But are the four lovers the main figures? The two bridegrooms do not appear until the last stanza of the poem. The two swans who are the center of attention in much of the poem presumably undergo a mysterious metamorphosis before the last stanza; at any rate they are seen no more after the seventh stanza.8 Then there are those greenish nymphs and the one among them who makes a serious speech commanding every-