Epithalamion is an interesting mixture of negatives and positives for me. I found parts of it interesting and well written. However, I found other parts that I am less enthusiastic about. Spenser used many different devices in this poem that make it stand out from many other similar poems from the same time period.

             Epithalamion is a wedding song, traditionally sung on the threshold of the bedchamber. It was usually "narrated" by a sort of emcee, but Spenser changes it around, to make himself both the bridegroom and the narrator. So, it ceases to be an oration by an outside observer, and it becomes a "passionate lyric utterance" (p. 864). The genre to which Epithalamion belongs goes back centuries to ancient Greek times. It usually involves an "invocation of the Muses, followed by a celebratory description of the procession of the bride, the religious rites, the singing and dancing at the wedding party, the preparations for the wedding night, and the sexual consummation of the marriage" (p. 864).

             In my opinion, this poem was not as interesting literally as The Faerie Queene. I enjoyed the story of The Faerie Queene because of the, shall we say, variety of the stanzas. Each stanza was interesting to me. However, in Epithalamion, I found many of the stanzas quite boring. This may be due to the fact that they are written in Middle English, a language of which I am not a native. It was also due to the fact that he used so many classical references. I am sure if I understood even half of the symbolism involved in this piece, then it would interest me a great deal more.

             It wasn't the worst poem I have ever read. It has many wonderful qualities. For example, I love the part where Spenser says "And let them also with them bring in hand, Another gay girland For my fayre love of lillyes and roses, Bound truelove wize with a blew silke riband" (lns. 41-44). I love the imagery in these lines.